Together Through Thick and Thin
by LaurenHardy13
Summary: When a serial killer comes to Tulsa with a reputation of killing and torturing teenagers, Darry's not taking any chances at keeping his family safe. But when Ponyboy and Johnny are kidnapped, it's a race against time for the rest of the 'gang' to find them before it's too late. (Johnny and Dally are alive)
1. Chapter 1

This is my first attempt at an Outsiders story. This was one of those books that I didn't really like when I was forced to read it in middle school, but when I came back to it years later I really appreciated it a lot more. As for when exactly it takes place, I'm going with a little after the end of the book. Nothing happened to Dally and Johnny when they saved the kids.

Hope you enjoy!

"Let's go Ponyboy or you'll be late." Darry Curtis told his younger brother. Currently it was early Monday morning and the two oldest brothers after dropping their little brother Ponyboy off at school would head to work like always. Life had been difficult for the Curtis brothers after their parents had passed away in a car accident. Darry after the accident had given up college and took guardianship over his two younger brothers. He didn't care if he had a scholarship or not; his brothers meant the world to him and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he allowed the state to put his brothers in a foster home. They were all each other had and that was all the brothers needed.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Fourteen year old Ponyboy replied back stuffing the book his was reading into his backpack. Afterwards, he along with Darry and Soda got into Darry's truck.

"Soda I need that money by tomorrow you hear?" Darry said after he started up his truck and started driving to the DX where Soda worked.

"Buck's giving it to me this afternoon. I'll give it to you tonight." Soda said.

"You better. Pony you smoke one pack today; period. Anymore and I'll skin ya."

"Fine. You overwork yourself putting on roofs and me and Soda will skin _you_." Ponyboy said which always got Darry to show a small smile which was rare for Darry now a days. Soon the trio arrived at the DX gas station. Soda worked there full time as he had dropped out of high school to help out Darry.

"See ya later Darry. Bye Pony." Soda said getting out and went inside to start his shift. A few minutes later they pulled up to Tulsa High School.

"Bye Pony I'll see you tonight." Darry said when Pony got out.

"Bye Darry." Ponyboy said and walked towards the school.

"Hey Pony." A voice called. Beside him was his best buddy Johnny. Johnny was a light dark skinned, sixteen year old with jet black hair.

"Oh hey Johnny. You okay?" Pony asked when he saw a mark on Johnny's cheek.

"Yeah, don't you worry about this Pony. My old man just got drunk last night again. I just happened to be in his way." Johnny's parents were drunks that abused and neglected Johnny day in and day out. He was the greaser gang's pet and anyone that messed with him was in for it; especially by one of their buddies Dallas 'Dally' Winston. It was true that Dally got in trouble with the law all the time and always was either _in_ trouble or found a way to start trouble, but he had a mini soft spot when it came to the two younger greasers.

"You know if your folks get angry you can always hang out at our place. Our door's always open."

"I know. But my old man gets mad if I don't show up for a couple of days."

"Well we're always here if you need us. You don't even have to ask."

"Thanks Pone." Johnny said and the bell rang for homeroom. "See you later." He said and the two went to their homerooms.

Break*Break*Break

A few hours later towards the end of the school day, Ponyboy was in History class. All of a sudden, a teacher came running in with a panicked look on her face. Ponyboy's history teacher Mrs. Chapman stopped writing on the chalkboard and turned her attention to her frantic co-worker. A couple students laughed at the teacher's panic but were quickly shushed by Mrs. Chapman. The teacher then quickly whispered something causing Mrs. Chapman to look shocked and all of a sudden lead her out of the classroom leaving the door almost closed.

"Okay then." A classmate said and everyone got up and talked to their friends.

"Wonder what that was about." Ponyboy asked Cherry Valance who was in his class. Cherry lived on the west side of town with the Socs but hated how they acted towards the greasers. She and Ponyboy often talked to each other whenever no one was looking or just in passing.

"I don't know but she looked awful scared."

"She probably couldn't stand the sight of you greasers being in her class." A soc said making his buddies laugh but Ponyboy just ignored them. Just then Mrs. Chapman opened the door back up.

"…Tulsa's a big city. Don't worry about it. The cops will catch him soon."

"Uh oh Dally must have robbed something again." Two-bit said. Despite him being a junior, he was still in Ponyboy's freshman history class due to being held back; twice. Then Mrs. Chapman came back in completely this time closing the door behind her.

"Right. Now there's no need to panic ladies and gentleman. That was just a friendly conversation between fellow teaches. Now let's get back to the Civil War." She said and went back to the chalkboard.

"That's my cue." Two-bit whispered and rested his head on his desk while closing his eyes.

*Meanwhile at the Tulsa Police Department*

"You're free to go Winston. I'll see you soon; unless this visit has _somehow_ convinced you to change your ways. " A cop told Dally as he was getting out.

"Not really; just another couple of nights behind bars." Dally said getting his brown leather jacket on.

"You watch your attitude Winston or I'll send you to prison next time!"

"I was there on my thirteenth birthday for the third time. It's really nothing special."

 _Attention all units. Resident called in saying Harrison Lynch spotted on Charles Street. Any officer not working on assignment is to report to that location._

"Lynch? Ain't he that serial killer that kidnaps kids and nearly tortures them to death?" Dally asked.

"None of your business Winston. Now I suggest you be on your way before I arrest you for trespassing." The cop said and went back to work. Dally meanwhile walked out of the station and started thinking about that killer. It was true that Dally hated kids but he would never actually kidnap and torture young kids just because. It didn't seem right, especially when he liked to hang out with Ponyboy and Johnny who fit into the category the killer liked to attack which was ages 13-16.

'Wait, ain't Charles street near the high school?' Dally asked himself. It was almost two-thirty which was when Pony and Johnny got out of school. If one of them tries to walk home by their lonesome and the witness was telling the truth, that killer might be close looking for his next victim. Without thinking, Dally started running as fast as he could towards the high school. He didn't care if he wasn't acting like himself but if that killer somehow got his hands on Johnny or even Ponyboy, Dally had no idea what he'd do. Finally he made it to the high school just as the final bell rang. Kids started making their way to their buses or started walking home. That's when he saw Johnny walk out with Ponyboy. After this, he ran towards them.

"Dal? What are you doing here?" Johnny asked confused.

"I was in the area and thought you'd guys would maybe want to walk around for a bit. Hey what happened to your cheek Johnnycake?" Dally asked with his eyes suddenly full of rage when he saw the large bruise.

"Oh that. It's nothing." Johnny said pulling his injured cheek away from Dally's view.

"Don't look like nothing." Dally said giving Johnny a look. "Was it your old man again?" He asked and Johnny nodded while looking at the ground with a guilty look on his face. "Dammit, I'm sorry about that Johnny. Next time that happens you call me and I'll have a nice talk with your old man."

"You don't need to do that Dal. I can deal with it."

"Whatever you say. So what do you guys think? Wanna head into town? Maybe grab a movie later or something?"

"Thanks Dal but Darry told me I need to come home right away and finish my homework." Ponyboy said.

"Alright kid. How about I walk you home and we can grab a coke at the DX. Then I can pick you guys up later."

"Alright." Pony said. "Johnny?"

"I wouldn't mind that."

"Okay, let's go." Dally said and the three greasers started walking towards the DX.

"I can't believe I have to walk the long way home now because the fuzz aren't letting us go anywhere near Charles street. But to be honest it's kinda scary." Someone said in front of the group as they were walking.

"Did they say why?" Another asked.

"They said there was like a serial killer or murderer close to Tulsa and they got a tip he was nearby." The one said and Johnny's eyes widened.

"A murderer?" Johnny mumbled. Ever since he had been attacked badly by the Socs, Johnny was a lot more jumpy and stared carrying a switchblade everywhere he went.

"Hey, don't worry about that man. Let's keep walking." Dally said patting the two young greasers' shoulders. Ponyboy then remembered the teacher that came in frantic earlier and Mrs. Chapman's somewhat comforting words.

'… _Tulsa's a big city. The police will catch him."_

While this was true, the police on the other hand didn't have a great record with protecting people; especially when it came to the east side of town. They were just a bunch of lowlife greasers and they never asked for help from the fuzz. The rest of the trip was silent until they finally arrived at the gas station. They walked up to the door and just before Ponyboy who walked in last got into the DX, he was startled by someone grabbing him into a hug. It took a few seconds before Ponyboy realized that it was Soda who was hugging him.

"Damn you scared the hell out of me Pony." He said still hugging his brother like his life depended on it.

"Sorry. I thought you saw Dally and Johnny walk in." Ponyboy said a little confused.

"No not that. You didn't hear?" Soda asked releasing his brother.

"Hear what? What's wrong Soda?" He asked when he saw Soda's eyes. They were filled with horror and terror. Soda was always a happy-go-lucky kid that always got the girls to go crazy over him. Whenever he wasn't happy it was because of something serious like when Ponyboy and Johnny had ran away. It scared him something awful that week.

"Someone thought they saw a serial killer near your school Ponyboy. And the fuzz thinks he kidnapped someone when you got let out of school. I thought it was you!" Soda said hugging his little brother again.

Well what do you guys think so far? Now obviously we have to get the boring developmental part of the story out of the way first, but I promise you things will start picking up; especially when Superman finds out what's going on. Let me know what you guys think.

LaurenHardy13


	2. Chapter 2

**Glad this was a big hit with fellow fanfic readers. Here's another part featuring Superman.**

"… _fifteen year old Scott Gregory is the latest victim in Lynch's killing spree. Witness says he forced Gregory into his black car on Charles Street just as Tulsa High School let out. Police are still investigating this matter but have stated that Harrison Lynch is considered armed and dangerous. They recommend that residents, especially teenagers' ages thirteen to sixteen remain indoors for the next hour or so while the investigation continues. Captain James Quake describes him as a white man in his mid-thirties with short blonde hair and also is reported to have a large scar running down his left cheek. If spotted, residents are asked to get somewhere safe and call the police."_ As the gang heard the news on the small radio in the D.X, Soda came behind Ponyboy and held him close. He could feel his brother shaking but knew he'd never admit he was nervous to the gang.

"Don't worry Pony. He ain't gonna get you," Soda whispered. That's when the phone at the D.X started ringing. Soda's best buddy Steve Randle who was at the register answered the phone.

"D.X Gas Station can I help you…yeah hold on. Soda it's for you," Steve said. Soda let go of Ponyboy and went behind the counter taking the phone from Steve.

"Hello?" Soda said and on the other line was Darry calling from work.

" _Soda it's me. Is Ponyboy and Johnny with you?!"_

"Yeah they're here. Dally went and got them," he explained and heard Darry give a large sigh of relief.

" _Ok good. Listen to me Soda; I want you, Pony, and Johnny to stay at the station. As soon as I get off of work I'm gonna come pick you guys up. Tell Pony and Johnny not to leave for any reason. You got that?"_

"Yeah Darry," Soda answered.

" _Alright I gotta go. I'll see you soon little buddy."_

"Bye Darry," Soda said and hung up. "Pony, Johnny, Darry wants us to stay here until he gets off work. He'll pick us up and take us home when he gets off."

"But that's not till five," Ponyboy said.

"I know Pony but he just wants to be on the safe side. It scared me to death when I heard Lynch was in the area and I bet it scared Darry too." Soda said as he came back out from the counter.

"Alright," Ponyboy mumbled annoyed and rolled his eyes. Currently, Johnny had gotten out his switchblade and held on to it for dear life and slowly moved closer to Dally.

"Pony, Johnny, why don't you guys head to the garage. There you can at least sit down and get started on your homework." Soda suggested and started leading them out without waiting for an answer. The DX garage was just a small one that could only fit one or two cars in it. It was nothing special but it was the perfect spot to work on cars. Over on the side were a few workbenches and chairs. Soda went over to the furthest one and moved some of tools out of the way or onto another bench. "Here, you can do your homework here or do whatever. I'm gonna work on this car for a bit and Steve's in the store if you need anything."

"Thanks Soda," Johnny said still holding onto his blade.

"No problem Johnny. You okay? You're shaking a little." He asked not missing the bruise on his cheek.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," Johnny said forcing himself to stop moving.

"It'll be alright," Soda said patting Johnny's shoulder and started working on the car. Ponyboy sat down and started working on his homework. Five minutes later Dally came into the garage.

"Hey, I'm gonna head downtown and see if I can dig up some info. Johnnycakes, you go with Darry when he comes. Then you stay put,"

"Alright Dal," Johnny said and Dally started walking back towards Charles Street while keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey greaser!" Someone shouted. Behind him was a red mustang with three Socs inside. Dally kept walking until he saw an alleyway and went through it. Then he saw the red mustang pull up behind him and the three Socs got out. They all were about sixteen or seventeen years old with two having brown hair and one with blonde hair.

"Heard you just got out of the cooler Winston. Thought we'd throw you a little welcome home party." The soc with blonde hair said showing that he had a switchblade with him.

"Aww, you shouldn't have. What do you say we get things started Soc." Dally said and charged at them. Dally avoided the blonde's knife and started punching out one of the brown haired soc. The others tried to help him out, but Dally was a little bigger than all of them so overpowered them easily with only receiving a few cuts here and there. Quickly he slammed the blonde to the ground which caused him to lose the blade and kicked him in the ribs before going for the two brown haired guys. The one Dally had been punching now had a few cuts on his cheek. The other one ran up to Dally who picked him up in a fireman's carry and slammed the back of his head against a wall before throwing him down to the ground. The soc hit his head on the ground but Dally didn't care. The other brown haired soc came behind him but Dally was ready. He clutched the soc's jacket and threw more punches at him before finally he fell to the ground. Afterwards, he went over to the blonde Soc as soon as he snatched his blade, picked him up by his jacket, and held him against the wall.

"Your old man's a cop right Quake?" He asked.

"What's it to ya grease?" The Soc asked.

"Cause unless you want me to cut you into tiny little pieces, you're gonna tell me everything your old man's told you about that serial killer," Dally warned as he held up the blonde's own blade against his throat. The soc just smiled until Dally applied pressure to the blade and his neck started to bleed.

"Alright! His name's Harrison Lynch…" He began before Dally applied even more pressure before he could finish.

"Ahh!" The Soc screamed.

"I ain't askin' about the crap the radio told me. I'm asking about what your old man knows. If I know James Quake, I know he only tells what will please the public. So talk before I slit your throat!" Dally hissed.

"Okay okay! He takes his victims to some house and locks them in a basement I think. It's hard to know what he does because as soon as he grows tired of his victims, he leaves after he sets the house on fire and his victims' burn alive. That's all I know!"

"Anything else you wanna tell me? If I find out you know more, what I'm doing now will be nothing." Dally said applying more pressure and the soc screamed in pain.

"Ahh! That's it I swear!" He shouted and Dally took the blade away and threw him to the ground just as the two brown haired socs started getting up.

"Now get out of here!" He shouted and the Socs started running back to their car.

"This isn't over Winston!" The blonde said and drove off while Dally started throwing stones at them.

 **Break*Break*Break**

 **Later that day**

Five o'clock finally came and Darry pulled up to the DX.

"Finally!" Ponyboy said and gathered up all his books. Darry raced out of the truck and ran over the garage.

"Hey Pony. You're okay right?" He asked.

"Yeah Darry I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Ponyboy responded and Darry put his hands in his pocket. That's when Soda came into the garage after going to clock out really fast.

"We ready?" Soda asked.

"We've _been_ ready." Ponyboy answered and the group started to make their way to Darry's truck. Johnny and Ponyboy got up front with Darry while Steve and Soda got in the back. Once they arrived back at the house, everyone was rushed inside and the door was closed. Soda, Ponyboy, and Johnny sat on the couch while Steve sat on the floor by Soda and Darry sat in his recliner.

"Okay, so here's the plan. Until this guy leaves or is arrested, both of you aren't to go anywhere unless it's with one of us." Darry said and the boys nodded. "As soon as you guys get off of school, I'll have Dally or Two-bit come pick you up."

"You really trust Two-bit to come get us?" Ponyboy asked only to get shot a glare from Darry.

"You don't walk home by yourself for any reason you hear me?!" Darry yelled harshly.

"Yeah." He responded and the room grew silent for a minute before Darry broke it by sighing angrily at himself.

"Sorry Pony," Darry said.

"It's alright. Well I've still got some reading for English to do." Ponyboy said and got up without another word, walked into his bedroom, and closed the door. He then leaned on the door allowing some tears to fall down his cheek and squeezing his eyes shut tight.

"You can't save me Darry; not this time," he whispered to himself.

 **Uh oh. You know we got a problem when Ponyboy believes that Superman's muscles won't be able to protect him; one of Darry and Soda's main purposes in life. Also what did we learn from Dally in this chapter ladies and gentleman?**

 **1\. Don't mess with Johnny Cade.** _ **Ever!  
**_ **2\. Don't get on Dally's bad side**

 **Wait, most of us already knew that but just in case you didn't,** **don't ever mess with Johnnycakes!** **You know what, its question time. Who's more overprotective? Superman and Soda or Dally. Let me know.**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is a fluff chapter with plenty to go around for everyone. Dally may be a tad AU but that's just because "the only person Dally ever loved" is being threatened. Knowing Dally that won't go to lightly as discussed in the last chapter.**

 **I don't own the Outsiders.**

Ponyboy after calming down decided to stay in his room reading until Darry came in an hour and a half later to get him.

"Pony, dinner's ready," he said/

"Okay," Ponyboy said softly closing his book. Darry gave him a confused look as he closed his book right away. Normally it took a few tries to get Ponyboy to come. Darry ignored his surprise and turned to leave when Ponyboy spoke before he left. "Darry?"

"What is it?" Darry asked but Pony didn't speak or move for a moment. Finally Ponyboy looked to the ground and spoke again.

"Nothing. Just forget it," He said and started walking out of his room with Darry following him to the kitchen where Soda was cooking. Ponyboy went to the one of the cabinets and started getting out plates and silverware for everyone. Steve had long since left so it was just the brothers and Johnny.

"You guys really don't have to do this. You've got enough to worry about with the bills and everything." Johnny said as he sat at the table and for the first time since they arrived, put his switchblade in his pocket.

"It's no problem Johnny. You're as much a part of this family as we are," Ponyboy said.

"I know. I just hate to be too much trouble."

"Who says it's too much trouble? We all have to eat and you just happen to be joining us. You'd think we'd let you go hungry while you're staying with us?" Soda asked while he set his 'green' mashed potatoes on the table.

"I guess not. Those green potatoes sure do look…edible." Johnny said showing a smile for the first time.

"Soda if those potatoes are moldy I swear. Wait, did you actually let the corn stay yellow?" Darry asked as he looked at the corn that was in a pot on the stove.

"Yeah I decided to give them a break; this time," Soda said.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis actually cooked the corn right. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Darry said getting the milk out. Once everything was ready, everyone grabbed a plate and started filling it with Sodapop's colorful 'creations' of food. "Okay so we need to discuss plans for tomorrow. Pony, you've got track tomorrow right?"

"Yeah," Pony responded.

"Okay, Johnny I'll see if Dally can swing by and pick you up once school lets out. If not, then I'll think of someone else. Pony, practice is until five right?" Darry asked.

"Five-thirty this time. We've got that track meet on Wednesday," Ponyboy said.

"That's right. Alright I should be off by then. If I'm late then you stay there until I get there. Understand?" Darry said again and Ponyboy nodded. That's when the front door opened and slammed shut while Dally walked in.

"There you are Dal. Did you find anything about…h-him?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing much. This guy's a complete mystery," Dally lied.

"And that's how it's going to be," Darry said.

"Darry wait a minute…" Soda said but was interrupted.

"No Soda. There's no reason we need to worry ourselves with this."

"But don't you think we should know what this guy does so we can be prepared?

"No we shouldn't Sodapop!" Darry yelled and turned to Ponyboy who was staring at his plate ignoring the shouting. Darry knew Ponyboy hated when he and Soda argued. It was him and _Pony_ that always fought; not Soda.

"We don't need to worry about things that aren't going to happen," Darry said trying to reassure Johnny and his brothers.

"We don't have anything valuable that he would want anyway. But why does he kidnap and kill random kids?" Ponyboy asked Darry.

"I don't know Pone. There are just some sick people out there," he responded.

"Are greasers sick people Darry? Are we any different from him?" Johnny asked and no one had a straight answer right away. Darry was about to talk but it was Dally who spoke up first. He pulled up a chair and sat next to Johnny.

"Look man. I was in jail when I was ten years old and trust me; I've seen some sick people in there. Yeah it's true us greasers rob stores, get drunk, and jump socs and kids just because we can. A few of us here and there may be like that but as far as this group is concerned, we all have a fine line that we don't cross. You and Pony have hung out with me loads of times and know that I don't take crap from anyone. I'm a tuff greaser but I don't go around and kill random kids just because. Sure I'll scare them and maybe roughen them up if I'm not in a good mood but I'd never go as far as kidnap and torture kids like Lynch does. That's what makes us different from that killer and don't you ever think otherwise." He said and Johnny nodded in approval.

After dinner was through and Ponyboy and Johnny finished washing the dishes, they both went outside on the deck to watch the sunset.

"You know I've really wanted to show Dally one of these; especially after we came back and all." Johnny said watching the sunset decorate the sky with gold.

"Yeah. I got Soda and Darry to sit out here once with me. I could tell Darry didn't like it as much as I did but they both just sat with me until it was gone. I really liked that. We didn't have to worry about Socs or the state splitting us up. We were together and that's all that seemed to matter. It was like you said; there's still good in the world."

"That's why I want to show Dally this. I told you what that author of that poem meant about being gold when you're young. You've got hardly any worries to worry about when you're a kid. Dally has to worry about everything like getting hauled in and being tuff around everyone. The only people he really has are us. I think when he sees this it'll remind him that there's still hope and good in the world."

"Knowing Dally I don't think he'll really care but it's worth a shot." Ponyboy said. The two buddies continued to watch the sunset until it was gone and the stars were starting to come out. "So…I guess we better head in now." Ponyboy said and Johnny silently followed him back into the house. The group had settled down after having some chocolate cake for dessert and watching some television.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Johnny had fallen asleep on the couch a few hours later and the brothers decided that it was time for bed. Dally had left to see if he could get any more information about Lynch or what he did from some of the other greaser gangs like the Shepards. Soda had gone to the bedroom he shared with Ponyboy and Darry went to his own room after getting one of the spare blankets to cover Johnny up with. Ponyboy just lay in bed staring at the window wondering where Lynch was and what he was thinking. The thoughts made him shiver and move closer to Soda who had thrown an arm around him in response. This made Ponyboy settle down a little and finally drift off to sleep. Unfortunately that didn't last long as a soft whimper was heard.

"Pony?" Soda asked sitting up. Ponyboy sat up and when Soda saw it wasn't him who whimpered, he jumped out of bed. He went into the living room and saw Johnny was the one whimpering and shaking on the couch.

"Hey, come on Johnny wake up now. It's just a dream," Soda said softly. The whimpering got louder and Darry came running out of his own room. Ponyboy did too and went over with Soda to try and wake up Johnny. Tears were rolling down his cheek and he was breathing short gasps. Finally Johnny's eyes shot open and he started sobbing. Soda lifted him up and held him close. "Shhh…it's alright Johnnycake it's alright. You're safe now. It was just a bad dream." Soda continued rocking him.

"H-he was here," Johnny whispered.

"Who was?" Darry asked.

"I saw Lynch. He was here. He wanted to kill me," Johnny sobbed.

"He's not here Johnny. It was a nightmare." Ponyboy said trying to consult his friend.

"No! I saw him! He has a gun he's gonna kill me!" He yelled.

"Shhh…he's gone now Johnny. No one's gonna hurt you now." Soda said rubbing his back.

"Dally…...Dally." Johnny started to moan.

After a few minutes, Soda somehow got Johnny calmed down enough to stop screaming and the door flew open. Everyone flinched until Dally walked in looking worried surprisingly. As soon as Johnny saw Dally, he jumped up and run towards him hugging all he was worth.

"Dal…I can't do this. I just know he's gonna come after me," Johnny said.

"No he ain't. I'll kill him if he does!" Dally shouted as a matter of fact. This caused his icy blue eyes to turn murderous. The gang had seen this look on Dally after Johnny had gotten jumped and it was best to stay far away from him if you didn't know him; he was very dangerous at this state. This made the radio broadcast that had played at the DX earlier echo in Ponyboy's head.

"… _Lynch is considered armed and dangerous."_

"… _spotted near Tulsa High School…"_

"… _serial killer…"_

"… _teenagers' ages thirteen through sixteen…"_

"… _murderer…"_

He then looked at Darry and then at Soda. The thoughts he was thinking earlier in his room were now in full swing. There was nothing stopping this man from getting what or who he wanted; not even the fuzz could stop him and Johnny knew this too. If the police wasn't able to stop Lynch from doing those horrible things…then that meant neither could Darry. Sure Dally was one of the toughest in the group but as far as Ponyboy was concerned, it was Darry and Soda who he always called for when he was in trouble. They were always there whenever he was jumped, sick, or had a nightmare. But there was no way Darry _or_ Soda could save him if Lynch wanted him. Darry would risk his life if it meant keeping his little brothers safe. And that's exactly what Ponyboy was afraid of.

"Pony? Are you alright honey?" Soda asked snapping him out of his thinking. His face had turned pale and was starting to shake like Johnny had been.

"I…"Ponyboy said. He really wished he had a cigarette to calm him down but decided against trying to find one. He started backing away from Soda before bumping into Darry who put his hand on his shoulder once he faced him. Ponyboy knew his green eyes were full of panic but that wasn't something he'd wanted to show Darry as he had enough on his plate to worry about.After all _he_ wasn't a potential target for a serial killer.

"Pone?" Darry asked.

"I-I'm okay. Just a little spooked." He said taking a deep breath and keeping the tears in his eyes from falling. It took a good twenty minutes for Johnny to calm down enough for Dally to lead him back to the couch. The gang's pet was exhausted but refused to go to sleep.

"Come on Johnny. I'll stay here with you tonight if you want." Dally said. This seemed to be good enough for Johnny as he at last closed his eyes and was out cold within seconds.

"Let's go back to bed Pony. Dally's got this," Soda said. Pony followed Soda back into the room with Darry close behind. Then Darry leaned on the doorframe watching Soda and Ponyboy get back into bed. Darry started to leave for his own bed when Ponyboy spoke before he left.

"Darry wait." Ponyboy said. "Can you stay for a minute? Please?"

"Alright little man," Darry said. Then he shut the door and sat on the left side of the bed next to Ponyboy.

"Pony, I know there's something going on besides this serial killer. I can't help you if you don't tell me," Darry said.

"Don't talk about him! Please." Ponyboy begged.

"I know you're scared baby. I'm scared too but I keep telling you he'll never get you." Darry continued knowing he was getting somewhere.

"But you and Soda won't be able to protect me from him!" Ponyboy said and as soon as the words were out, he covered his mouth and his eyes went wide. Soda had gasped when he heard this and was instantly petrified. Darry nearly leaped off the bed as he heard something he'd thought he'd never hear. He was as still as death as he looked at the only person that mattered right now. He had heard these words before but only in his deepest nightmares. The room was dead silent as both Soda and Darry tried to take in what they heard.

"You think that I…" Darry said but couldn't continue. That's when a few tears started to overflow and roll down Ponyboy's cheek. Ponyboy quickly swiped them away with his head down trying to avoid eye contact with his brothers.

"The fuzz can't even stop him from killing all those kids. If they can't do it, then Lynch can take whatever he wants easily; even from you." Darry and Soda looked at each other and then right back to their little brother.

"Oh baby…you don't think I can protect you from him?" Darry said gently cupping Ponyboy's cheek getting him to look at him.

"He's too good Darry. Lynch is looking for kids like me; not you. I don't wanna lose you too." Ponyboy sobbed as more tears started to roll.

"Honey you let _us_ worry about protecting you. That's _our_ job." Soda said starting wipe some of the tears off Ponyboy's face.

"But we're all we got left now. You said so yourself Soda," Ponyboy continued.

"You're right; we _are_ all we got left now. But that's why we gotta stick together and stay close. And if someone tries to split us apart like Lynch or the state, then you let me deal with that. You just focus on your schoolwork. Understand?" Darry said. Ponyboy nodded and the three brothers embraced.

"We love you so much Ponyboy. That creep will have to go through us if he touches you," Soda said. Ponyboy didn't know how, but being held in the safety of his older brothers made him fall fast asleep right after giving off a small grin.

 **Ahh there's so much irony in this chapter. We know what's gonna happen but we're just waiting for it to happen like a predator stalking it's prey. Well sorry Ponyboy and Johnny but that'll be coming up here soon.**

 **(Dodges punches from the gang)**

 **Review if you enjoyed! Now excuse me while I run away from some angry brothers and a few tough greasers.**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. S.E Hilton does.**

Darry was the first brother to wake up the next morning. Ponyboy had fallen asleep in their embrace last night and he decided to stay by his side that night with Soda. He didn't know if it did anything to calm him down, but what his brother had admitted the previous night still was bothering him. He didn't think Darry would be able to save him if Lynch somehow managed to take him. All he could do was just keep him and Johnny close until this frenzy blew over. Darry left his brother's room and peeked into the living room where Johnny was fast asleep on the couch with Dally snoring in the armchair.

'Don't know what you did Dally but it worked.' Darry thought to himself as he went into the kitchen to start breakfast. Just as he was starting to cook the bacon, Ponyboy walked in.

"Mornin' Pony." Darry said.

"Morning." He said back and sat down at the table.

"Hey, head up today okay? Getting yourself all psyched out isn't doing anyone any favors; especially your school work."

"Yeah, and thanks for staying with me last night. I felt a lot better. And Darry? I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it."

"About me protecting you? Ponyboy, if you don't feel safe then I need to know so I can fix it." Ponyboy sighed and nodded his head.

"Thanks Darry, for everything." He said showing a small grin.

"Anytime little buddy." Darry said and the front door opened and slammed shut signaling who was at the door.

"You guys had a sleepover and didn't invite me? Aw man that hurts." Two-bit said putting his hand on his chest. This woke up Johnny who rubbed his eyes and got up off the couch. Slowly he went to the door and looked out to see if anyone was watching him or the house. When he didn't see anyone he went back and sat on the couch.

"Aw cheer up Johnny. That guy has to have a death wish to walk in here. I know what will cheer you up!" Two-bit said and turned on the T.V where Mickey Mouse appeared.

"Maybe for you." Dally said who Two-Bit had woken up. "Anymore nightmares Johnnycake?"

"Just one. This one wasn't _that_ bad but it still scared me some."

"Alright. I'll stay nearby at night alright?"

"Okay."

"You boys should start getting ready for school." Darry said still in the kitchen directed towards Johnny and Ponyboy.

"Who the hell wants to go to school with a murderer on the loose?" Two-Bit asked.

"You keep your trap shut and focus on the mouse Mathews!" Dally said glaring at him and Two-bit for once actually did as he was told. That's when Steve walked in wearing his DX shirt and his hair all greased up as always. Since Steve worked part-time at the DX, he would just go straight there after school to start his shift.

"Hey Soda!" Steve shouted while looking for his best friend. The bedroom door had been left open slightly and Steve saw Soda still passed out. He tip toed over and stating hitting him with Ponyboy's pillow. Soda fired back after he was startled awake and a pillow war was on. Very quickly it was over and Soda got out of bed to change into his work clothes. Ponyboy did the same but got his clothes and changed into the bathroom so he could grease up his blonde hair the best he could. It was a little longer but still had ways to go before it reached the length it was before it was cut in Windrexville.

"Come on and eat so we can get out of here." Darry shouted to everyone as he set the plates down on the counter. Everyone came in and got a plate of food and went back to the living room. "Dal you picking up Johnny today?" He asked.

"Yeah I'll be there."

"Good, you can come back here or do whatever if you want."

"We'll see how I'm feeling." As soon as everyone was finished and all the dishes were in the sink waiting to be washed by Soda and Ponyboy, everyone except Dally got into Darry's truck to be taken to work or school. Dally had left as soon as he was done his food to who knows where. All that mattered is he would be at Tulsa High School at two-thirty. Just like the previous day, Johnny and Ponyboy sat up front with Darry while everyone else was in the back. After dropping off Soda at work everyone else was dropped off at school.

"Five-thirty, alright Ponyboy?" Darry asked and Pony nodded as he and Johnny started walking towards the front door. As he was walking up the steps into the school, he couldn't help but notice a man leaning on his black car. The man had jet black hair and wore a pair of dark sunglasses. He also had on a tan trench coat and had a pleasant smile on his face. Most people seeing the man probably didn't think anything of it due to men dropping off kids at school all the time. But something just didn't feel right with Ponyboy.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing. Just my imagination running off again."

 **Break*Break*Break**

Ponyboy walked into his first period Science class and noticed that his teacher Mrs. James hadn't shown up yet. Figuring she was just running late, he sat at his desk and pulled out his book. Five minutes after class was supposed to start, Principle Drake walked into the classroom. Ponyboy looked up from his book and saw the man with the tan trench coat he saw earlier walk into his classroom behind Principle Drake. His eyes started going wide as the man went over to his teacher's desk, took off his coat as well as pocketing his glasses, and hung his coat on the coat rack. Now the man was wearing a red blazer with long khakis.

"Ladies and gentleman I apologize for the wait but I have just received word that Mrs. James has gotten into a very bad car accident and will be out for the next few weeks. She's in surgery as we speak and hopefully we'll have word of her condition in the next day or two. In the meantime I would like to introduce to you Mr. Even Glass; your substitute for the time being. I expect you to treat him with as much respect as you would if Mrs. James were here. Thank you and Mr. Glass you may take over." The principle explained and left the classroom. Alerts started going off in Ponyboy's head because something just didn't seem right.

"Alright ladies and gentleman, now I've been given our schedule and we are going continue as normal. But before we get started I want to first get to know you all a bit more. I want everyone to take out a piece of paper and write a little bit about yourself." He then went up to the chalkboard and started writing what he wanted. "I want your name, I want you to tell me about your family and who lives with you, and also tell me at least three things you like to do. Now I know this isn't really an assignment but I will give out ten bonus points for everyone who doesn't just write one sentence. Go into some details because that's what I'm going to be looking for when we do our lab write-ups. Now get to it." He said and everyone got out a piece of paper and started writing. Ponyboy thought it was weird how a _sub_ was asking students to write things about themselves in the middle of the year. But he wanted to get some of the bonus points that were promised so he hesitantly started writing.

 _My name is Ponyboy Michael Curtis, (yes that really is my name.) My father really liked unique names so I think that's why I was named Ponyboy and my older brother is named Sodapop. I live with my two older brothers named Darrel or 'Darry' for short who is twenty and Sodapop is sixteen but will be seventeen in a couple of weeks. It's just us but we have a few buddies who like to hang out at our house. I really like reading books; my favorite being 'Gone with the Wind.' I also like to draw and go to the movies whenever I get the chance even if Darry doesn't always like that I do that all the time. I get good grades in school and I'm even on the track team. Life's not always been perfect for us but as long the gang and I stick together then we can get past anything that comes our way._

After this, Ponyboy stopped writing not wanting to tell everything about him to the man he didn't quite trust yet. Once everyone had finished and turned in their short essay, the day continued like any other.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Dally meanwhile had gone to Buck's bar to see if he could pick up any more information about Lynch. There he saw Tim Sheppard sitting there with a pretty girl. Tim and Dally were frienemies. One day they could be best buddies and another they could be bitter enemies. Dally normally wouldn't go to Tim Sheppard for help but at this point he was desperate for some new information. He went over to Tim's booth and sat down.

"Hey Dal, how's it going?" Tim asked.

"Alright. How it going with your gang?"

"Nothing special besides beating up a few Socs here and there; the usual stuff."

"I hate to take time away from your pretty friend but I wanted to talk to you; privately." Dally said motioning the brunette with Tim.

"Go get me another beer." Tim told her and she left to get another beer as requested. "Alright what do you want?"

"You know about that serial killer the radio was talking about? The one spotted by the high school yesterday?"

"Yeah. Radio said he liked killin' kids."

"Well do you know anything about him? What he does to his victims? Why he murders kids? I've got a buddy of mine that may be on the list Lynch is looking for."

"Oh yeah, the quiet one that hangs around with Ponyboy right? I don't know too much about him, but gimme a couple of days to talk with some buddies of mine. I might be able to get some information out of them."

"Thanks Sheppard."

"No problem." Tim said and Dally got up and left the bar.

 **Now the suspense is starting to kick in. Like I said, we're just waiting for Lynch to strike his next target** _ **whoever that will be.**_

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the Outsiders sadly.**

That same afternoon just as agreed on, Dally was there waiting for Johnny to get out of school. When the bell finally rang, hundreds of teens raced out of the building. Just as Johnny was walking out the door, he was bumped into by Mr. Glass making him drop a binder he was carrying.

"Whoops. Sorry about that Johnny. Got so many binders I didn't see you there." Mr. Glass said with a bunch of binders he was holding.

"That's alright Mr. Glass." Johnny said picking up some papers that flew out of his binder and put them back in.

"Hey! What's your problem!?" Dally asked coming over when he saw his buddy coming out and getting bumped into.

"Sir, there is no problem here. Now I suggest…"

"Oh I think we got a problem here!" Dally shouted getting in the sub's face and gave him a mean stare.

"Dal, chill out man; it was just an accident." Johnny pleaded.

"The hell it was. Listen good man, I don't take too kindly when people mess with my buddy."

"Dally knock it off." Johnny said a little louder then he wanted and Dally just looked at him. "Look, can we get out of here now?" He asked not wanting to be involved in any kind of fight right now. Dally looked back at Mr. Glass who gave a silent look telling Dally to try and put his hand on him. At last he gave Mr. Glass one last glare before turning around and walking back towards the east side of town with Johnny.

"Who the hell was he?" Dally asked.

"The science substitute. Mrs. James was in a car accident."

"How long is _he_ supposed to be here?"

"I don't know; whenever Mrs. James gets out of the hospital I guess."

"Better be soon; I don't like him." Dally said glancing back at the school.

"He's not so bad."

"Well you can't trust anyone. Not until Lynch is found. He could be anywhere."

"Yeah, anywhere." Johnny said with a bit of fear in his voice.

"You still spooked about last night?"

"I don't want to talk about it. And you don't have to stay with me tonight. I'll be alright."

"Got nothing better to do. Come on let's drop your stuff off and we can walk around a bit to get your mind off of things."

"Alright."

 **Break*Break*Break**

Meanwhile back at the high school, Ponyboy was heading to the gym locker room so he could get changed for practice. On the way there, Mr. Glass came walking down the hallway.

"Hello Ponyboy. Good job on your introduction paper today. Your English teacher told me you have quite a talent for writing."

"Yeah I do. I've written a couple of things in the past."

"That's very good. You'll have to bring some of them for me to read sometime."

"I can do that." Ponyboy told him.

"You also mentioned you're a track star right?"

"Sure am. I'm actually headed to practice right now."

"Well I won't keep you waiting. I have to be somewhere in a half hour myself. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Bye Mr. Glass." He said and continued his way towards the locker rooms. 'Sure he seems nice but there's just something I don't like about him. I mean he couldn't be Lynch or anything right? Well he doesn't have a scar on his face like the radio said but…I don't know.' He thought to himself. He got to the locker room and changed into his track uniform and waited for the rest of the team and his coach. Once everyone was there, they all walked outside onto the track.

"Alright boys. We got that meet tomorrow so I want you to show me today what you're going to bring tomorrow. If you bring me your B game then don't even bother showing up tomorrow. I want the absolute best representing Tulsa High tomorrow. Are we understood?"

"Yes coach!" The boys all said.

"Good. Give me four laps around the track for warm up. Go!" He ordered and the team was off. As Ponyboy was running his laps, he noticed Mr. Glass walk out and put a bunch of binders in his black car. The track was right across from the student parking lot but the teachers had their own separate little parking lot closer to the other side of the building. Why did he choose to park his car where the students were? He even had the blue tag that the teachers had to put on the front-view mirror so they could park in the teacher's lot. Someone had to have told him where to park. Afterwards Mr. Glass closed the door and leaned on his car just like he did that morning and watched the boys run. Suddenly Ponyboy's imagination started to run wild and he began to daydream.

 _In his mind Lynch was staring at him with a wicked smile. His eyes grew wide as he couldn't stop looking at his smile. He started breathing short fearful gasps and quickly started to sprint as fast as he could away from there. All he kept thinking was run and get home to Darry; he would protect him like he promised. Forgetting that he was at practice, Ponyboy continued sprinting on the track but in his mind he was running for home. He felt like it took an eternity to get to his street and all that time Lynch just followed him somehow keeping up with him at a walking pace with that evil smile. Just when he was almost at the house he saw Darry working on his truck. Darry noticed Lynch behind Ponyboy and started running at him. He took a swing at Lynch but all of a sudden fell to the ground. Ponyboy stopped running when he saw Lynch was holding a gun that was still smoking and Darry was on the ground; dead. His eyes were wide and he was frozen at the spot unable to move. Lynch stepped over Darry and started coming towards him still with that smile._

"Dang Curtis. That's the fastest I think I've ever seen you run." Another voice said that brought him back to reality.

"W-what?" Ponyboy asked and he remembered that he was at track practice. He had somehow finished all four of his laps while he was daydreaming.

"Curtis your face is pale. When I said I wanted an A game I didn't mean kill yourself."

"No I'm fine. I guess I'm just as surprised as you are that I ran that fast." Ponyboy gasped.

"Go get some water. If you run like that tomorrow we might have a chance." He told him and Ponyboy did as he was told. While he drank some of his water, he looked towards the student parking lot to see Mr. Glass was gone.

 **Break*Break*Break**

4:55 PM  
D.X. gas station

"… _there is still no new information about the whereabouts of fifteen year old Scott Gregory who went missing yesterday afternoon on Charles Street. Police have not yet given any more details about his abductor Harrison Lynch."_

"Dammit!" Soda shouted slamming his fist on the counter. All day when he wasn't busy with customers, he was listening to the radio to see if any new information had come out about Lynch.

"Will you shut that thing off already Soda? It's obvious the fuzz ain't gonna release any more information to the public so there's no use having it on." Steve said who was sweeping the floor.

"I can't just stop worrying about this Steve. Ponyboy is on the list he's looking for. I gotta know what he does so we can avoid it."

"This guy's a _serial_ killer. His job basically is to kill people. If they haven't caught him yet then this guy is good. We're greasers. We just have to be better than him."

"But how can I…" That's when the door opened and in came a sobbing woman with black hair with her husband still trying to get out of the car.

"Ma'am, are you…" Steve asked but the woman went right up to the counter where Soda was.

"Have you seen my Scotty; my baby!?" The woman asked Soda sobbing.

"I…"

"Please…I have to find him. He'll kill him if I don't." She told him and her husband who had brown hair and a soft beard made it into the store.

"Honey he's not here. He'll be in an ordinary house just like the other times he's kidnapped a teenager." The man said trying to guide her out of the store.

"No! That monster tortures kids just for fun! The police told me he does. Scotty needs me! Scott!" She screamed and the man just dragged her out of the store apologizing to the two employees. Once they got in the car and left Steve looked at Soda after what he just heard. Soda's face was as white as a sheet, his eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly opened, and just stared at the door where the parents just left from. He seemed to be in a daze.

"Soda? Hey snap out of it buddy!" Steve said throwing the broom down.

"He does it for fun." Soda mumbled and his legs suddenly turned to jelly. He would have fallen hard on the floor if Steve hadn't jumped over the counter and steadied him just in time.

"Easy buddy. Sit down, sit down." Steve told him gently lowering him to the floor.

"He tortures teens for fun." Soda mumbled again still in shock.

"That lady was crazy. She didn't know what she was saying." Steve told Soda not really believing himself.

"She said Scott; Scott Gregory." Soda continued and that's when the front door opened again.

"Anybody here?" A familiar voice asked. Steve jumped up from the counter and saw Darry there.

"Darry, its Soda." Steve said kneeling back down to check on his friend while Darry ran over.

"What the hell happened?!" Darry asked and Steve explained what happened. When Darry heard this, his face too went pale but he put his feelings to the side for now and focused on his brother.

"Come on Pepsi-cola. Just look at me. I've got you." Darry said making Soda look at him. Soda launched at Darry and started balling.

"He does it for fun Darry! He does it just for the hell of it!" Soda shouted while Darry held him tight.

"I know Pepsi. I know." All of a sudden something clicked inside Soda's head. He jumped out of Darry's embrace with terror now in his eyes.

"Pony! We have to go get him!" He said.

"Okay Soda. Let's get Pony and head home." Darry said calmly.

"I'll clock you out Soda. Just go check on the kid." Steve said and with a nod from Soda the two went to go get their little brother.

 **I told you it would start to pick up. Now if Ponyboy and Johnny were to say, get kidnapped by said serial killer that's when the big action will pick up but who's to say that will happen right? Anyways I hope you enjoy now excuse me while I hide from some angry greasers.**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: In case you're wondering I still don't own the Outsiders.**

Soda and Darry jumped into the truck and sped away to the high school. Meanwhile Soda just stared blankly out the window still getting over the new information he just heard.

"I don't think I'll be able to tell him." Soda said.

"Good because we're not going to." Darry said concentrating on the road very hard.

"You're kidding me right? We can't just hide this from him. It's bad enough he doesn't feel safe with us with Lynch running around somewhere." He continued now turning his full attention to his older brother.

"That's exactly my point Sodapop! I already told you last night, we're not going to worry about him."

"How can we _not_ worry about him Darry?! He's after people like our brother!"

"And what do you think telling him that 'Lynch likes to kidnap and torture kids for fun' will do to him? He's more scared then he's letting off Soda. It's like you said, he doesn't feel safe with us." Soda's eyes went wide as he realized what Darry was talking about. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and finally gave in.

"I'm sorry Darry. I know what he said hurt you."

"It's not what he said that hurts. I'm the oldest brother. It's my job to protect you and Pony. If he thinks I won't be able to save him from Lynch then I've failed him; I failed mom and dad."

"You're not alone in this Darry. I'm his older brother too." Soda told him giving him one of his world famous smiles. "We'll protect him together; just like we always do." Darry grinned and as he stopped at a red light, he looked at Soda and put his right hand on Soda's shoulder.

"Thanks little buddy." He said and Soda took Darry's hand that was on his shoulder and they both squeezed.

"The state can't split us up and neither can Lynch. Sorry Darry but you're stuck with us." Darry then half-hugged Soda who did the same quickly before the light turned green. Once it did, the two let go and continued towards the high school. Just as they were pulling up, Ponyboy came out of the school. Soda scooted over and Ponyboy got in but didn't say anything.

"Hey Pony. How was school?" Soda asked.

"Fine."

"Are you okay? You seem a little tense." Darry said.

"Well I just got done with track so yeah I'm a little tensed."

"Alright." Darry said and they drove home in complete silence. When the Curtis' came home, Soda went inside while Darry sat outside with Ponyboy.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I told you Darry I'm fine! Can you quit asking me that already?!" He shouted and Darry just turned around to get some stuff from the back of his truck. That's when Soda came back out holding something behind his back.

"Hey Darry think fast!" Soda shouted. Darry turned around quickly and caught the football that Soda had thrown. Soda started running out the yard heading for the lot with Darry and Ponyboy close behind. Ponyboy ran ahead of Darry and turned around just in time to catch the ball Darry had thrown at him.

"Curtis catches the ball but is tackled by his own brother." Soda said doing just as he said and tickling Ponyboy who dropped the ball.

"Soda…haha…stop it!" He said laughing. Soda let off him and the two started running when Darry picked up the ball again. The three continued playing catch with each other for a good hour laughing and goofing off; something they really didn't get a chance to do anymore. After they had some fun, the brothers started back to start making dinner. They arrived back at the house just as Johnny and Dally came back as well.

"Where have you guys been?" Pony asked.

"Just walking around. Chased a few kids off and beat up a Soc who looked at me funny." Dally responded.

"You sure it's a good idea to be walking around town like that?" Soda asked.

"No one's stupid enough to try and attack _me_ except for dumb Socs. Beside we're not letting a murderer stop us from having a good time. Right Johnny?"

"I guess so. Well guys I really should be headed home now. See you later." He said and started walking towards his house.

"Hold it kid. You're not going anywhere by yourself." Dally said blocking Johnny's way.

"Dally, I gotta show my face to my dad or he'll come and hunt me down. I don't want you getting involved."

"Well too bad. If you _have_ to show your face then I'm coming with you."

"Dal…"

"Nope! This isn't up for discussion. Either you stay here and forget about your folks or I go with you. What's it going to be Johnnycakes?" Dally said crossing his arms.

"Fine. You can come with me." Johnny said.

"Oh and I'm telling your folks that we're not staying long."

"Don't do anything stupid. I don't want to get into even more trouble."

"Trust me, there won't _be_ any." Dally said and the two were off promising to be back soon. It only took a short walk to reach Johnny's house but Johnny dreaded every step. Taking a deep breath, Johnny went inside his house to the living room where his father was sitting on the couch watching T.V obviously drunk and his mother was ironing some clothes.

"Well, look who decided to show up. Don't expect to get any food around here kid. You can't expect to just waltz in here and eat our food just to leave and hang out with those hoods again. They're nothing but trash."

"Who the hell are you calling trash?!" Dally shouted making his presents known.

"You brought them into my house now?! That's it you son of a bi***! It's time I teach you about discipline boy. You think I've been going hard on you all these years well you're in for in now!" His father said getting off the couch trying to gain his balance due to the alcohol but before he could make his way to Johnny, Dally came over and punched his dad's face causing his eye to swell.

"Get out!" Johnny's mother shouted as she started hitting Johnny with her hot iron burning a small portion of Johnny's forehead.

"Ow!" Johnny screamed clutching his forehead.

"Hey! Get the f*** off him!" Dally shouted at the top of his lungs getting his switchblade out of his pocket and walking towards her.

"Dally no! She's not worth getting your blade all dirty." Johnny said blocking Dally's way with a few tears rolling down his cheek.

"You better hope I don't see your miserable faces ever again. Johnny's staying with me for a while so don't expect him to show up here."

"Fine! Leave for all I care! Just don't come crying when that serial killer comes and takes you away. Hell he can have you for all I care and serial killers like to keep their victims for a long, long time; killing their prey slowly and painfully. When he gets through with you, you'll be wishing for the discipline _I_ give you." Johnny's father said only to get punched in the nose by causing him to fall on the floor and be kicked and stomped on by Dally. Once Dally had finished, him and Johnny walked out of the house without another word. Johnny had gone pale again as the two walked back to the Curtis house.

"Come on Johnnycake. You're not thinking about what your old man said are you?" Dally said.

"A little." Johnny replied.

"Forget about it man. You got the whole gang backing you up."

"How do you know?! How do you know he's not watching me right now Dally?! This guy's dangerous; more dangerous than the Socs and my father put together. You all keep telling me and Ponyboy that everything's going to be fine but it's not!" Johnny shouted stopping as did Dally.

"I don't know where he is but like I told you; I'll kill him if he finds you. That little _demonstration_ back there is just a sneak peak at what's in store for him but ten times worse."

"I'm not going to lie but when you punched dad it kind of was…funny, but it makes it no different then what they do to me."

"They deserved everything I gave them! They hurt and burned you." Dally said motioning to the now bruising mark on Johnny's forehead.

"And they still can't stand the sight of me! I hate fights man; they don't solve anything." Johnny said and the two didn't say a word to each other for the rest of the walk back.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Meanwhile Darry was making dinner in the kitchen while Ponyboy was also in the kitchen finishing his math homework, and Soda was in the living room watching T.V. All Ponyboy kept thinking about was what had happened earlier on the track. He looked out the kitchen window and just replayed the scene where he was running away from Lynch and Darry getting shot.

"Ponyboy quit daydreaming and get your homework done!" Darry yelled at him snapping him out of his little vision.

"Sorry." He said and went back to his problems. Once he was finished, he walked outside to the side of the house to have a smoke. As he blew the smoke out, he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

'Come on Curtis. Quit acting like a little kid. None of that was real.' He told himself. 'It wasn't real. You're safe here. You're safe with Darry and Soda.'

"Pony?" Soda called out from the porch. Ponyboy put his cigarette out and walked back to the porch. "Don't be wonderin' off now Pony." Soda told him.

"I won't." He told his brother and the two went back into the house after Darry told them that dinner was ready. Just as the brother sat down, Dally and Johnny walked in the house.

"Just in time for dinner." Ponyboy said.

"I'm starved." Johnny said.

 **Did anyone else feel real good when Dally gave Johnny's dad a black eye? Thank you Dally for doing something that every one of us wanted to do to Johnny's dad. So I hope you enjoyed and tune in next time for when something is going to happen to the some members of the gang.**

 **Spoilers: It's not going to be good.**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well this chapter took way longer then I wanted it to but class got out of control and finals just snuck up on me. But I'm done now so here we are.**

 **Enjoy!**

After the buddies ate their dinner and Soda and Ponyboy did the dishes, the two brothers, Johnny, and Dally sat in the living room to watch T.V while Darry was working on bills.

"… _it has been now forty eight hours since Scott Gregory was kidnapped from Charles Street after getting released from school. Gregory is said to take Charles Street home along with other teenagers everyday. Police have recently required an eyewitness to the crime and more information for us."_ The news anchor said and Soda sat up straight turning up the volume.

"Darry!" Soda shouted and Darry came right in.

" _Police have gotten word that the suspect was driving a 1965 black and white, G.T 350 Ford, Mustang with tires that have two red lines on them."_

"Mustang? That's a Soc car. Narrows it down a little bit and we know now that the guy's rich," Soda stated.

"Of course he's rich. You know what? I don't think we need to hear any more of this," Dally said snatching the remote and changing the channel. The gang found an old movie that they watched until Darry announced that it was time for bed. Dally as promised decided to stay the night with Johnny resting in the armchair.

"Are you positive that you want to stay Dally," Johnny asked?

"Will you stop saying that? It's fine," Dally said.

"Alright, see you all tomorrow," Soda said and he and Ponyboy went into their room. "Goodnight Pony," he said getting under the covers with him.

"Night," Ponyboy mumbled and Soda turned off the lamp leaving them in complete darkness. "Hey Soda? Do you…do you feel safe here with Darry?"

"Wha…yeah I feel safe with Darry. Are _you_ still not feeling safe?" Soda asked putting his arms around his little brother but nothing was heard in response. "Honey we…we can't let this beat us. If we do, then Lynch is gonna win this fight. All of us have to be tuff in order to get through this."

"Why is it always us Soda? How come bad things always happen to Greasers?" Ponyboy asked.

"I don't know Pone. That's just the way it is I guess," Soda responded back and Ponyboy took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Soda afterwards started to rub Ponyboy's head.

' _Stay calm stay calm. Don't make Soda worry more then he already is.'_ Ponyboy thought to himself.

"Darry's right down the hall and I won't leave you for nothin'. You remember how he was during the rumble after that Soc started kicking you? I thought for sure he was gonna kill that guy," Soda said.

"You weren't too far away from what Darry told me," Ponyboy said grinning.

"Yeah that Soc made me so mad when I saw him. No one ever messes with _my_ baby brother," Soda said starting to tickle Ponyboy.

"So-da!" Ponyboy whined and Soda giggled at last stopping the tickling.

"Try to get some sleep and I'll be right here if something goes wrong," Soda said.

"Thanks Soda," he said back and Soda laid back down keeping one arm stretched out over Ponyboy who meanwhile was staring out the window. The trees where swaying back and forth violently making eerie noises so much, that it made him shiver.

'Come on Curtis. Lynch is nowhere near here. Darry's right down the hall like Soda said. You're safe.' Ponyboy told himself and closed his eyes.

" _Ponyboy!" A frantic voice called out and Ponyboy shot out of bed. He looked around and noticed not only that it was light again, but that Soda was no longer in bed with him._

" _S-Soda?" He called back but no answer was heard. He quickly got up out of bed and went into the kitchen where Darry was cooking breakfast and Soda was sitting at the table eating a small piece of chocolate cake._

" _Mornin' Pony," Soda said._

" _Morning," He said confused. All of a sudden they heard the kitchen back door being kicked open and Mr. Glass stood outside the door._

" _Who the hell are you?!" Soda said jumping out of the chair he was sitting in standing in front of Ponyboy. Mr. Glass walked into the kitchen light and his hair changed from brown to blond and a mark suddenly appeared on his cheek._

" _It's Lynch," Ponyboy whispered and Lynch flashed a wide smile. Darry ran at Lynch, but he grabbed Darry's wrists and threw him to the ground instantly. Ponyboy's eyes went wide as Darry went down to the ground and his breathing became heavy._

" _Darry will stop him. Darry will keep you safe," Ponyboy whispered to himself. Darry got back up but didn't see Lynch pulled out a gun from his pocket._

" _DARRY!" Ponyboy shouted but a loud 'boom' was heard afterwards. Darry's eyes went wide as he looked at his brothers and fell to the ground. Blood started coming out of his mouth and he went still. "D-Darry," Ponyboy managed to get out before his eyes began to water and his breathing became even faster. "This isn't real. You're safe," He mumbled while staring at Lynch's smile again as he started walking towards him and Soda._

" _DARRY! YOU SHOT MY BROTHER YOU BAST***!" Soda shouted and ran towards Lynch who just pushed him and he hit his head on the stove and fell to the ground knocked out._

" _Soda!" Ponyboy yelled watching Soda fall to the floor and then stared back at Lynch._

" _Y-you're safe. You're safe it's okay," He continued mumbling to himself while walking backwards as Lynch continued walking forward towards him._

" _NO! Stop it! This is a dream! Wake up!" Ponyboy continued saying and was finally against the entranceway of the kitchen. At this point, Lynch had caught up to him and pushed him against the neighboring wall._

" _We're going to have so much fun together," Lynch said in Mr. Glass's voice as he patted Ponyboy's head._

" _Y-you're fine. It's safe!" Ponyboy mumbled again and Lynch grabbed him and carried him like a sack of potatoes out the door._

" _NO! DARRY! SODA! HELP ME! YOU PROMISED! DARRY!" Ponyboy screamed kicking and punching his attacker but to no avail._

" _Pony…Pony," Soda moaned on the floor reaching out for him._

" _SODA! HELP ME! PLEASE!"_

" _Ponyboy wake up!" Soda shouted._

Ponyboy shot up out of bed looking around the room frantically. "Pony! Baby it's okay, it's alright!" Soda said cupping his brother's cheeks.

"No! It's not safe!" Ponyboy said and that's when the door shot open making him flinch. The light turned on the reveal Darry with a baseball bat and Dally behind him. "Darry!" Ponyboy shouted jumping out of bed and went to hug him. Darry, taken off guard dropped the bat and held onto his baby brother as he sobbed.

"Shhhhhhh, I've got you," Darry said looking back at Dally who went back to the armchair.

"I…I t-thought…"

"You thought what honey?" Soda asked and Darry walked Ponyboy over to their bed so they could sit down. "What happened?"

"Lynch was here. He…he shot you Darry. You couldn't save me," Ponyboy explained.

"Oh Pony," Darry said and Ponyboy leaped into his arms again with Soda joining in rubbing his back.

"Shhhhhh, it's over now. We're here. No one can hurt ya now," Soda whispered.

"Y-yeah. We're safe here with Darry. _He'll_ keep us safe." He said looking out the window.

"That's right baby. I'll protect you; I promise." Darry told him tightening his grip and Ponyboy took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Ponyboy said.

"Shut it," Darry answered back.

"Darry?" Ponyboy asked after a minute.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think you could…?" Ponyboy asked but Darry interrupted him.

"Yeah. I'll stay tonight." He said and the three brothers got comfortable in bed with Ponyboy sandwiched in between the two older brothers. Ponyboy lifted his head off his pillow and looked out the window one last time.

"Come on Ponyboy, go to sleep. You got that big track meet tomorrow and your team's counting on you," Darry said and Ponyboy laid back down on his pillow. He kept his gazed focus right on Darry who started stroking his hair, while Soda continued to rub his back again just as their mother use to do when they were young. At last, Ponyboy's eyes closed and he was fast asleep within minutes with Darry soon following after.

Once Soda heard that Ponyboy and Darry were asleep, he let all the tears that he had been hiding roll down his cheek and put his face in the pillow to try and hide his sobs as best he could. After letting his frustration out, he laid on his side holding on tighter to Ponyboy while letting out soft whimpers.

"He does it just for the hell of it." Soda whimpered to himself shaking over his own words. "Darry will keep you safe. Darry will keep you safe," he continued telling himself and gave Ponyboy a soft kiss before eventually crying himself to sleep.

 **Break*Break*Break**

"Uh, Mr. Glass?" Ponyboy said the next day in class as he was just about to leave the science room.

"Yes Ponyboy?"

"I don't know if you're interested, but here's a poem I wrote for English a few weeks ago if you want to read it."

"Wonderful! You know what? Why don't you stop by at lunchtime and we can talk about it; it just so happens that I've written a few poems and stories myself over the years."

"You have?" Ponyboy asked surprised.

"Oh yes. Sometimes when I've got nothing to do, I just sit outside and write whatever comes to me. It's my way of relaxing and not having to worry about grading the never ending lab reports and exams you all make me grade," He said making Ponyboy chuckle a little. "You know when I was a boy; I'd always use to sit with my mother in her garden while she planted flowers," Mr. Glass explained.

"My mother did the same thing with us too. We have so many pictures of me and my brothers sitting in the garden trying to pull her flowers up that she just planted," Ponyboy said.

"Ah yes, I did that plenty of times and got my mother so mad at me. You know what? I think I have a poem I wrote about her just the other day," He said and started going through his bag. He pulled out a yellow folder and went through some papers inside. "Ah here it is _._ Now it's not all technical like your English teacher expects it to be, but it still serves its purpose."

"Wow, that's nice," Ponyboy said taking the paper from Mr. Glass.

"You can take it with you if you want. I can always write another."

"Thanks," Ponyboy said.

"So what do you say? Here at lunchtime?" He asked Ponyboy.

"Okay," Ponyboy responded.

"Great! See you then," Mr. Glass said and Ponyboy walked out of the classroom feeling good.

"Hey Ponyboy. Writing some more?" Johnny said walking over.

"Hey. No, Mr. Glass gave it to me. He says he's a writer just like I am. He and I are going to meet during lunch and talk about a poem I gave to him. Then he gave me this one."

"What's it say?" He asked and the two buddies pulled over to the side of the hallway and Ponyboy read the poem out loud.

" _To my mother who made me who I am._

 _You were there when I first opened my eyes,_

 _and gave me all the love you could muster._

 _If I cried, you made me smile again._

 _When I needed you, you were always there._

 _To my mother who made the monsters leave,_

 _and gave me courage with my schooling years._

 _The one who got us kids to stop fighting,_

 _helping us find peace with one another._

 _To my mother who is no longer here._

 _Who left without letting me say goodbye._

 _And ask why you left me here all alone._

 _But I know you never meant to do it._

 _You love me too much just as I…love you."_

Ponyboy and Johnny were silent after reading the poemand just looked at each other.

"Wow. That was awful pretty," Johnny said breaking the silence.

"Yeah; makes me think of mom," Ponyboy said sadly.

"I guess that's what it's supposed to do. I wish my folks were like that; would make this a whole lot easier," Johnny said.

"What?" Ponyboy asked.

"You know; with…h-him and everything."

"Oh. Yeah. Momma and dad would keep us safe." Ponyboy said thinking about his parents. "I hate this! Nobody knows where Lynch is and we…..…we're victims he's looking for," Ponyboy said slamming his fist against the lockers.

"Will you stop talking about him like that?!" Johnny shouted making Ponyboy take a small step backwards and ignoring everyone suddenly staring at him. "I'm sorry Pone. It's just…"

"Well, would you look at this boys. Looks like the janitor forgot to clean up this part of the hallway. He missed a spot _right_ there," a Soc said who was a senior and pointed at Ponyboy and Johnny.

"The only trash here is _you_ Soc; nothing but white trash with mustangs." Ponyboy said.

"Oooo we got the feisty kind of trash. You know Grease; I'd be less focused on us and more worried about that killer that's been spotted around here. At least _I'm_ eighteen and don't have to worry about him. But you…you greasers look like the perfect candidates for his next killing. Did you hear that there's a rumor that Lynch likes to play with his victims? He does it _nice and slow,_ " The leader Soc said who had brown hair and brown eyes. Johnny was now white as a sheet.

"C-come on Johnny." Ponyboy said trying to move away from the conversation with Johnny but neither of them had the strength to move.

"Yes I did Mitch. And I heard that he stalks his victims and gets to know them before he even captures them. He watches and follows them every step of the way without even being seen by the victim until he knows you better then you know yourself. Then, he doesn't even leave a ransom note once he kidnaps you. Your families never hear from you again; that is if you even _have_ anyone who cares about you," another Soc with red hair said looking into Johnny's green eyes.

"You s-shut your trap!" Ponyboy shouted.

" _S-shut your trap_!" Mitch mocked. "Are you scared Grease? Maybe you should go back home to your mama. Oh wait…" Mitch said and he and his friends started laughing. Ponyboy started to run for them but Johnny held him back.

"Let's go." Johnny said and the two started walking away from the chuckling Socs.

"Darry was one of the best football stars we've ever had and even got a scholarship for it. But then he had to throw it all away thanks to you! Bet if Lynch captures _you_ Grease, Darry won't even bother looking for you. It'll give him a chance to go back to his _normal_ life," Mitch yelled.

"His normal life," Ponyboy mumbled as he and Johnny continued walking away.

 **That's all for right now. Hang in there guys, the part that everyone wants to see will be coming up in the next two or three chapters; I promise. Happy Holidays to all!**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	8. Chapter 8

Once the lunch bell rang, Ponyboy made his way back to Mr. Glass's classroom who was currently grading papers at his desk. Ponyboy gave a slight knock on the door and Mr. Glass looked up.

"Ponyboy, come on in. Pull up a seat," he said motioning towards the desks. Ponyboy grabbed the first chair he came across and dragged it next to Mr. Glass's desk. "Hang on one second I just need to finish this," he said finishing up what he was writing. After finishing the last sentence, he put the paper inside his black binder and took out Ponyboy's story. "Now then, I have one question for you about this," he said holding up Ponyboy's work. "Where did you ever learn to be such a talented writer? The amount of details in this is phenomenal." Ponyboy just shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess it's because I read a lot," he said.

"Well that's good! When writers just start out, they use techniques that they've seen before and then turn it into their own unique style. I don't mean straight up steal the plot of the story but I think you know what I mean," Mr. Glass said and Ponyboy nodded. "What's your inspiration for this work might I ask?"

"It was a sentence starter that my teacher put up and she asked us to just write as an exit ticket. It was 'I should have known this would happen from the start.' From there, I just started writing and I got a teen named Nate whose brother went on an assignment for work into the jungle but never came back," Ponyboy explained.

"A story that had me gripping the paper. It was only a paragraph but I'm intrigued to find out what happens to Nate. Now I hope you don't mind but there were a few spelling and grammar mistakes that I corrected," Mr. Glass said.

"Oh that's okay. I'm not the best speller anyway," Ponyboy said.

"Its fine," Mr. Glass chuckled. "But I do want the rest of the story finished and on my desk before Mrs. James comes back. Is that manageable?"

"I think I can do that. So what do you think about this? I was going to have a close friend of Nate's come into the story and the only one who supports what Nate thinks happened to his brother. He's the only one who shows up to say goodbye," Ponyboy said.

"That's fine. But what if Nate's friend comes along for the ride instead of being just being a side character? He can still be the only one to believe in him and even wants to come along and help. Nate says no but his friend stows away on the ship anyway."

"Ooo yeah! And maybe…"

"Nope! Don't tell me anymore. Remember, you can take inspiration but I want to see you turn it into something of your own. One critic I have though is it could use more tension to make this even better. Get some ideas together and then show me what you have. If you need help, stop by anytime and I'll see what needs improvement," Mr. Glass said.

"Thank you Mr. Glass," Ponyboy said.

"No problem. Now run along and enjoy the rest of your lunch," he said and gave Ponyboy's paper back to him.

"Bye, and thanks a lot," Ponyboy said and put his chair back to the front desk he took it from.

"Until next time. Oh and good luck at the meet this afternoon," Mr. Glass said and Ponyboy nodded at him before leaving his classroom.

 **Break*Break*Break**

 **Later at the track meet**

"Alright boys, this is our last shot. For the 200 meter relay, Emerson you're first, then Mannings, third will be Hale, and then Curtis. If you want that win then I need you to give it all you got. Go!" The coach shouted and Emerson got into position at the start while the remaining three lined up in order. Once everyone was in position, the shot was heard and the three runners took off. Once it was just about Ponyboy's turn, Thomas Mill High was ahead of Tulsa and Tuckerville by a few meters. As soon as Nathan Hale passed the baton to Ponyboy, he took off running.

"Come on Ponyboy!" He heard Two-bit and Johnny shout and he continued to run. Then right next to Two-bit he saw Darry cheering him on. This was all he needed to ignore the pressure on his shoulders. He smiled and started sprinting right past the Tuckerville runner but still needed to catch up to Thomas Mill's runner.

'Come on. You gotta show Darry you're not afraid of nothin'. I can win this thing easy,' he told himself. He took a deep breath and sprinted as fast as he possibly could. About 30 meters away from the finish line, he got past the Thomas Mill runner and his school side of the stadium all got up on their feet cheering.

"Go! Go! Keep going Curtis!" He heard his coach scream waving his arm in a circling motion. At last he crossed the finish line and all of the team ran over and hugged him while jumping. The home crowd was also jumping up and down screaming and cheering.

"Curtis! Curtis!" They all chanted and Ponyboy started high-fiving his teammates and some of the other team runners. After everyone had finished the final line of high-fives, the team went back to the bench to grab their bags.

"Well done Ponyboy! Well done!" He heard a familiar voice from the crowd. He looked straight up from the bench and saw Mr. Glass standing and applauding. Ponyboy smiled at him and gave him a quick wave and nod. He grabbed his bag and started to head towards Darry's truck where everyone was waiting for him in the parking lot.

"Whoo! Nice goin' kid," Two-bit said patting his shoulder and launching himself off the same shoulders.

"Thanks. Darry I didn't know you were gonna be here," Ponyboy said.

"I had to come get you anyway so I'd thought I'd come watch the end. Glad I did," Darry said. "Alright, let's go pick up Soda and Steve," he said.

"Come on Johnny," Ponyboy said as he jumped in the back.

"Pony, maybe you and Johnny should sit up front," Darry said.

"Why? I've sat in the back before haven't I? Anyway I'm all sweaty and you always said the fresh air was good for me," Ponyboy said and Darry gave him a look. "Come on, we'll be fine okay?" Darry thought about it for a minute until Ponyboy gave him a grin. He let out a frustrated sigh and finally agreed.

"Alright but Two-Bit sits with you," Darry said.

"You don't love me Darry?" Two-Bit asked.

"No I really don't Two-bit," Darry mumbled and got in the driver's seat and started the truck.

"I don't need a babysitter," Ponyboy mumbled as he got in the back but Darry ignored him. Pony and Johnny sat by the window opening it so they could hear the radio and keep Darry involved in the conversation they would have. Just as they were leaving the school parking lot and listening to _Burning Love,_ the song cut off.

"Aww come on! I was into that!" Two-Bit complained.

 _We interrupt this broadcast to some breaking news. A fire has been reported on Newport road that firefighters are struggling to put out…_

"Newport? That's right across from the DX! Darry we gotta get there!" Ponyboy shouted and Darry stepped on the gas turning off the radio. Ponyboy stood up a little and looked over the front of the truck.

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis, sit down!" Darry shouted and he followed his brother's order. The rest of the ride was dead silent as Darry drove as fast as he could, looking up at his rearview mirror every couple seconds. Johnny kept shifting uncomfortably as memories of Windrexville flooded his mind being trapped in the blaze. Ponyboy on the other hand kept looking down staring at his shoes trying to take calm breaths.

' _I need a cigarette! I need a cigarette! Glory I really need a cigarette,' he said to himself._

After what felt like an eternity, they at last arrived at the station where Soda and Steve were outside watching the smoke rise from a bunch of trees. The small, only entrance to Newport Road was blocked off by yellow caution tape with a few officers standing guard. As soon as the truck pulled up and came to a stop, Ponyboy jumped out going over to Soda.

"Are you okay?" he asked his brother.

"Don't worry Pony we're okay. The fire was nowhere near us," he reassured.

"What the hell happened?" Two-bit asked as Darry got out. He went over to where Soda was standing and put his fists in his pockets.

"I was in the garage when I heard the fire trucks coming and came out to see the smoke rising. Soda went over there to ask the fuzz what was goin' on and if we should do anything, but of course they just told us to stand back and warn our customers," Steve explained.

"Guys!" someone shouted and Dally came running up. "Does anybody know where Johnny is?!"

"I'm right here Dal," Johnny said getting up out of the truck and jumping to the ground.

"You and Ponyboy need to get away from here right now!" Dally said.

"What's goin' on Dally?" Johnny asked.

"You know that Gregory kid that Lynch had? Fire crew found him in the blaze," Dally said.

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

"Where did you hear that? Is he…alive?" Johnny asked.

"That don't matter. All that matters is that you're going back to Curtis place right now," he said.

"Did they find…?" Johnny asked but was interrupted.

"What the hell are you still asking questions for you little sh**?! Get out of here!" Dally shouted giving Johnny a light shove towards the truck.

"Whoa! Lay off him Dally," Soda warned and Dally just looked at him.

"We found out what we came here for now let's go," Darry said with his hands still in his pocket and Ponyboy and Johnny headed for the back, but Darry stopped them.

"You two are in the front this time," Darry said.

"Come on Darry…" Ponyboy whined.

"I SAID GET IN THE FRONT!" He shouted and everyone grew silent for a second. "Are you ready to go Soda?" Darry asked breaking it.

"Yeah we're all closed up," Soda said. "Anyone need a ride back?"

"Nah I think I'm gonna head to bucks and get drunk," Two-bit said.

"I gotta go get my car from the shop. I check in tomorrow," Steve said as Johnny and Ponyboy got in the front as they were told.

"I'm gonna go hunt for some information about this. Don't you go anywhere kid," Dally warned Johnny and started walking away from the station without another word. The gang then split up with Soda in the back and Darry in the driver's seat as they pulled away from the DX.

"He's been doing that a lot lately," Johnny mumbled opening and closing his switchblade.

"Look, don't be upset about Dally Johnny. You know how he gets," Soda said.

"It's not just that. Don't you see? Lynch doesn't have a victim anymore. He'll be looking for a new one," Johnny said and Soda didn't answer back.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Once they got back to the house, Ponyboy told the gang that he was going to finish some of his homework. After closing the door shut, he ran to his desk and quickly pulled out the bottom drawer. Underneath a bunch of papers was a small pack of cigarettes and a lighter he had put there in case of an emergency like this was. Ponyboy grabbed the pack and ran over to the window rapidly unlatching the lock. Once it was open, he jumped out, ripped open the package, and lit a cigarette while sliding down the wall.

'Knock it off! Soda's fine. Lynch won't come anywhere near here. You're safe here at home,' Ponyboy told himself.

' _I'm sorry Darrell but Ponyboy doesn't feel safe in your care. I'm afraid I'll have to put him and Sodapop in a boy's home where they can be in a safer environment,' he imagined their social worker telling them one day if the state found out about this._ Immediately, Ponyboy puffed out another puff and then another. Suddenly just at that moment, the sky slowly started turned a deep gold color.

The sun shined bright in his face almost blinding him. For the next few minutes, Ponyboy watched as the sun set in the west making the air get crisp and darkness overpowering the golden sky with light shades of pink and blue across the horizon.

Before he knew it, the sun had completely set taking all the gold with it leaving twinkling stars in its wake with darkness.

"Nothing gold can stay," he mumbled. He blew out one last puff of his cigarette before putting it out on the ground. Abruptly he heard the front door open up. Ponyboy jumped up and pushed himself against the side of the wall as far as he could trying not to make a sound. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Darry carrying something heading right for the silver trashcans in front of him. Darry didn't notice him as he was focused on putting the trash in the can. After Darry reclosed the lid, he looked up and spotted his brother.

"Pony?!" Darry called out and ran over to his brother roughly shoving Ponyboy against the house while shaking him violently.

"What the hell are you doing out here?! I told you not to go anywhere by yourself! Do you want get kidnapped by Lynch Ponyboy?!" Darry shouted.

"I just needed some air Darry! Stop treating me like a baby!" Ponyboy shouted trying to get out of his grip but Darry held on tighter.

"Dammit kid, you tell me you don't feel safe and then you just walk outside alone with a killer on the loose?! What's wrong with you?!" Darry asked.

"I was right here Darry! I didn't go to the lot or anything, I was right. Here! What's wrong with just being in the yard?!" Ponyboy asked.

"You better watch that attitude of yours kid! You never think about stupid stuff like this! Ever!" Darry yelled.

"Oh yeah. Ponyboy Curtis; never can do anything right in your eyes isn't that right?!" Ponyboy asked before Darry shoved him off to the side with a frustrated yell. Ponyboy took this opportunity to run for the back door ignoring Darry. The door slammed shut as Soda was making blue pancakes for dinner while Johnny was sitting at the kitchen table still messing with his knife.

"Pony? What were you…?" He asked before Darry came storming back in.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Darry warned.

"Leave me alone Darry!" Ponyboy shouted.

"You're not going outside by yourself again until this all blows over. Do you hear me?!" Darry asked.

"I'm fourteen Darry!" He continued shouting.

"Then act like it!"

"Goddamn you guys, knock it off! You're scaring Johnny!" Soda shouted. Darry and Ponyboy looked over at Johnny and saw it was true. Johnny held his switchblade so tight that his knuckles were turning white and he was crying.

"Gee Johnny I'm sorry," Ponyboy said.

"I get enough people yellin' at eachother at home! If you all are arguing like that I might as well be there with my folks!" Johnny sobbed.

"No Johnny. Pony and I were just disagreeing on somethin' but we won't fight like that anymore. We promised Soda, right Ponyboy?" Darry said gently as he narrowed his eyes at Ponyboy.

"Yeah," Ponyboy said.

 **Ok I better stop before this gets any longer. I had such a hard time with this chapter and I hope you all are enjoying this thus far. I'd love to know if you are or not. Strap in for the ride because from here on out is when I may come back after being beaten from a few angry greasers. (gulp)**

 **Until next time,**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Johnny and Ponyboy just like the days before were dropped off at school by Darry. Johnny got out as Ponyboy started scooting over to get out.

"Hey Pony. I'm sorry about last night. I was just upset," Darry said.

"Sure," Ponyboy said but Darry grabbed his arm.

"No I mean it. I've been coming down hard on you lately," Darry said releasing his arm and Ponyboy looked up at him.

"It's okay Darry. Last night I was being stupid. I just hate being cooped up in the house all the time," Ponyboy said.

"And you shouldn't be. You should be outside playing football and getting some fresh air, not worrying about a killer," Darry said and looked away from Ponyboy staring at the steering wheel. He gripped the wheel tightly as he slowly took in a deep breath before letting it all out. "How about this?" He said looking at Ponyboy again. "Tonight after Soda gets home we'll all go out and play football again; just like we use to. I'll even be on your team if you want," Darry said.

"Alright!" Ponyboy said before the warning bell went off. "Well I gotta go. I'll see you later. Oh and Darry? I love you too," Ponyboy said and got out of the truck before closing the door. Darry flashed a grin before driving away.

 **Break*Break*Break**

The bell for the end of lunch and all students got up to head back to class. Ponyboy and Johnny walked back inside the building and headed down the right hallway where the gym was. The gym was towards the back of the school that led right outside to where the track and football field was located. As the two were getting closer to the gym, Mr. Glass walked passed them in a hurry.

"Hi Mr. Glass. Are you alright? Looks like you just ran a mile around the track," Johnny said noticing Mr. Glass sweating.

"Me? Oh don't worry about me Johnny. I'm just fine; never been better. You know how hot the science room gets. I'm just running out to my car to get something; be right back" he said and sprinted pass them out the back door. The two friends just looked at each other.

"I don't think the science room is…" Johnny started but was interrupted by someone walking right in the middle of the two hitting their shoulder. The man was a red head wearing all black with one hand in his pocket.

"Excuse me," he said and walked into the cafeteria. All of a sudden, the piercing sound of a gun went off. The two turned around and saw students running around frantically after tossing their books to the ground. Screaming was all that could be heard as hundreds of students ran into different hallways which echoed throughout the school.

"We gotta get out of here!" Johnny shouted over the screams. The two threw their books to the ground and ran towards the door where Mr. Glass had gone out. Ponyboy pushed open the door with all his might and ran out holding the door open behind him for Johnny. Ponyboy took two steps forward before he stopped dead in his tracks and gave a high gasp.

Mr. Glass lay on the ground in front of them in a fetal position. His lifeless eyes were open staring up at them with no light left in them. His mouth was slightly open with blood starting to drip out slowly. His hands were clutching his chest where his now white shirt was saturated in red blood with more in a large puddle that he was currently lying in. As soon as the thick copper smell reached Johnny's nose, he started to breathe quick gasps and started backing away from the scene but he couldn't look away. All of a sudden Johnny felt a fiery pain in his skull and he fell to the ground unconscious. Ponyboy heard his friend grunt in pain and turned around. Before his mind could make sense at what was going on, a large hand covered his mouth holding a gun against Ponyboy's temple.

"Boo," his attacker said in his ear. The man was a little taller and muscular then Darry as well as Ponyboy coming up to his chest. He had short blond hair with emerald green eyes that were filled with joy and excitement. He also wore a dirty, short sleeved navy blue shirt with jeans and black boots that had seen better days. His partner that had struck Johnny was a man with black hair and a moustache wearing an orange jumpsuit along with white disposable gloves.

"Hurry up and load him in," the blonde haired man told his partner. "I can't wait for us to get started," he said in Ponyboy's ear. It was then that the man turned his head so that Ponyboy could see what was on his left cheek. It was a deep scar that ran from the bottom of his eyelid all the way down to the side of his chin. Ponyboy stopped breathing as he saw the scar that confirmed his worst fear. He struggled with all his might to get out of this killer's grasp but Lynch just held on tighter while giving a slight chuckle.

"Hang on; what's that in his pocket there on his jacket?" Lynch asked turning his attention to Johnny. His partner who had Johnny hoisted up on his shoulder checked Johnny's pockets and found his switchblade. "You two aren't suppose to have knifes and chains; that's mine to provide. Get some of his blood and put it on the ground a little away from Glass. It'll make the crime scene more…interesting," Lynch ordered. "And make it quick, they'll be out here soon." Lynch's partner took the switchblade and cut into Johnny's wrist that made him groan. Ponyboy started to protest behind Lynch's hand while still trying to move around. "Hey don't worry Ponyboy you'll get your turn; just not yet," he said as his partner took some of Johnny's blood smearing it across the blade before dropping it to the ground.

"Alright, now let's do a check of our scene shall we? Dead traitor? Check. Knife? Check. Blood everywhere? Double check," Lynch said as his partner put Johnny in the trunk of his black and white mustang that was parked on the side of the road next to them. "Oh and leave your baton behind," Lynch said and his partner once again obeyed. "Are we ready? Yes. Good," he said and before anyone could blink, Lynch pointed his gun at his partner and shot him down making Ponyboy scream closing his eyes tight. Lynch's partner fell to the ground already dead with his eyes nearly identical to Glass's.

"I'll do that to your friend if you don't co-operate. And I hate to get rid of a victim so early when we haven't had our fun yet," Lynch said to Ponyboy pointing the gun back up to his temple. That's when a few students and teachers came running out the back of the school. "Time for the show to start," he said and released the hand that was over Pony's mouth.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Ponyboy shouted as Lynch started dragging Ponyboy to the car shoving him in the front.

"No wait! Stop!" One of the teachers screamed but Lynch was already in the car and took off with Ponyboy and Johnny.

 **Break*Break*Break**

"Hey Darrel, you got a phone call! It's from your brother's school," Darry's boss yelled up to Darry who was on a roof working.

'What?' Darry said to himself and made his way to the latter to climb down. "My brother's school?" He said to his boss confused when he reached the ground.

"Yeah, said it was an emergency," his boss told him and patted him on the back as Darry went over to the phone.

"Hello, this is Darrel," he said.

"Hello Darrel. This is Principle Grant from Tulsa High. I apologize for calling you during work hours but there's been some…trouble," he explained.

"What kind of trouble Mr. Grant?" Darry asked his old principle.

"I…I really don't want to discuss this over the phone Darry. Is there any way you can come down and meet with me right now?" he asked.

"Yeah sure. I'll be right there," Darry said and hung up the phone.

"Go on Curtis," his boss told him who was standing right behind him.

"Thanks Mr. Clark," Darry said and grabbed his tools heading for his truck taking off as soon as the door was closed.

A half hour later, Darry arrived at the school and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the outside the high school a complete mess. There were busses loading up hundreds of students and cars everywhere with parents running around trying to get into the school. What got most of Darry's attention were how many police cars, ambulances, and policemen were there with even more pulling up to the school. Darry turned the truck off and slowly got out to start making his way to the front doors.

As he continued to take in the scene that in front of him, he walked a bit faster with the police and ambulance sirens started to fade away becoming distant as he focused on getting past the crowd of students, parents, officers, and medical staff all standing on the grass. Darry tried to listen to their conversations but the only word he could make out was "…shooting…" With this, Darry switched into a jog as he tried to make his way to the door that seemed to be getting further and further away with each step he took.

At last, after shoving a few people out of the way, he managed to squeeze his way to the front door of the school. As soon as he was inside, he immediately walked to the left where the very first door led to the main office with staff and officers running around. Darry walked up to the receptionist desk who stood up as soon as she saw him.

"Darrel! Good, you're here. I'll inform Mr. Grant," The receptionist said and picked up her phone just muttering that "he's here." After that, she hung up and looked up at Darry in guilt. "H-he'll be right with you," she said.

"What exactly is going on here?!" Darry demanded crossing his arms.

"All will be explained in due time Darrel," she said.

"Explain why there are cops everyone and I keep hearing 'shooting'?! Tell me what's going on and where my brother is!" Darry demanded.

"He…" she started refusing to make eye contact.

"Ah Darry! There you are! Why don't we go talk in my office?" Mr. Grant said running in from the side hallway where all the offices were. Mr. Grant led the way to his office closing the door as soon as Darry was in. He took a seat in one of the wooden chairs while Mr. Grant sat behind his desk in his leather chair. "Thank you for coming so quickly Mr. Curtis. First off, it's good to see you again," Mr. Grant told him.

"Likewise, now can you tell me what the hell is going on?" Darry said.

"Of course. As you may have probably overheard, we've had a school shooting here today that began around 12:45 when lunch got out and class changes were occurring. Naturally our first priority is our students and getting them out safely. Some of the faculty including myself guided some students the back way out of the school where the football field and track is located," Mr. Grant explained.

"Okay, now I'm a little confused at why you're telling me this. I get that there was a shooting and an evacuation happened but why call a meeting about this?" Darry asked.

"Because Darrel…when we got outside…..Harrison Lynch was waiting for us. And I'm sorry to tell you this but…I'm afraid he's taken your brother," he finally got out. Darry didn't say anything. He just had a blank look on his face with him mouth slightly opened as he took in the news. He stared straight ahead refusing to look his principle in the eye for a solid minute before bending over, tilting his head down looking into his lap.

"No," Darry whispered to himself putting his hands on his forehead.

"I know this must be troubling for you, but we believe Ponyboy wasn't the only person kidnapped. Jonathan Cade has not been seen since he left lunch with Ponyboy. I know those two like to hang around together and a few students saw them leave together out the front door that the shooter was blocking so we were unable to reach them right away," Mr. Grant continued but Darry wasn't listening. Johnny's name was all that stuck out to him. Darry took a few deep shaky breaths to come out of his state as best he could. Quickly, he jumped up out of his chair throwing his fists into his pockets.

"So what am I supposed to now to get my brother back!?" he asked as gently as he could but he couldn't hide his anger.

"I'm afraid all we can do at this point is wait. Harrison Lynch is a clever man and has eluded police custody for months as I'm sure you've heard. Sergeant Names is second in command on this investigation and needs to talk to you about some quick information on Ponyboy but he'll meet you at your house later. Also try to find a recent photo of him. The sooner we get his name and picture out, the better chances we have of finding him and Jonathan even though I've yet to make contact with his parents. I'm so sorry about all this Darrel," Mr. Grant said.

"Well Mr. Grant, I have to go now. It appears I have some things to take care of," Darry said wanting to get out of that office right away.

"Yes of course and I really hope you find Ponyboy," he said and Darry just left the office without muttering a goodbye or thanks. The entire facility just watched him leave slowly with his fists still shoved in his pockets looking at the ground. Once he got back outside, the sirens and hundreds of parents, students, officers, and medics were once again silent to him as he made his way back to the truck. Once he did, he didn't get in right away. He just stared at the back of his truck with hundreds of scenarios going through his mind. Suddenly he pulled his fists out of his pockets and slammed them against the siding of the back as he gave an angry shriek.

"Johnny?!" a petrified voice came from behind him but Darry didn't turn around to face him. "Darry, what the hell is going on here?! Where's Johnny!?" he asked again but Darry still didn't turn around. He heard him sprint over and spun him around so fast that it made him slightly dizzy. In front of him was Dally with those murderous, brown eyes he'd only seen a few times before.

"Curtis you have three seconds to tell me what the f*** is going on here!" Dally demanded pinning him against the door of the truck.

"Lynch was here…..Pony….." Darry whispered to himself. Dally's features softened up a little as he continued to hold Darry against his truck.

"Johnny man…..What happened to Johnny?" Dally asked as his eyes got glassy and voice got slightly higher than normal. This time, Darry looked into Dally's eyes as the dam in his eyes overflowed letting the tears slide down his cheeks.

"He's got them," Darry whispered. Dally face went pale as he gradually released his grip on Darry turning away from him. His eyes grew wide-eyed as he felt his cold heart skip a few beats.

All of a sudden, Dally started breathing heavy out his nostrils as they began to flare up with his hands turning into fists. His eyebrows were angled down towards the top of his nose as his heart rate began to speed up tremendously. His teeth were clenched tight as he directed his attention to one of the nearby police officers. Dally's eyes turned murderous again as he made his way over to the officer.

"YOU SON OF A BIT**! YOU COULDN'T EVEN KEEP HIMSAFE!" Dally shouted but before he could tackle the officer down, a few officers came up behind him restraining his arms but Dally kept pushing forward with all his might.

"Whoa take it easy. We got the shooter son," one of the officers said.

"YOU JUST LET LYNCH GET AWAY! YOU BASTARDS STOP DOING YOUR DAMN JOBS BECAUSE HE'S A GREASER?! HE'S JUST A KID!" Dally continued to shout still trying to escape the grip.

"Son, if you don't calm down I'll place you under arrest for attempting to assault an officer," the officer warned.

" _That's_ all you care about?!" Dally said in a deep threatening voice. This gave him the strength to escape the officers' grasp briefly letting out a yell, but one of the guards quickly pulled out a taser and tased Dally. He fell to the ground and one of the officers jumped on top of him and put handcuffs on him.

 **Uhhh…I don't know about you guys, but I personally don't want to be anywhere near Dally when he's in one of his moods like that. Anyways we've finally reached the part everyone's been waiting for…..well almost.**

 **Like it? Hate it? Let me know.**

 **Until next time**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	10. Chapter 10

"…did you see that one girl get jealous when Evie came in and was all over you?" Soda asked while they were walking home later that evening.

"Yeah I saw her when she left. Thought she broke the damn door after she slammed it. Man, I'm tired of fixing that stupid thing," Steve replied.

"Boss wants to hold on to it as long as he can," Soda said.

"Which means I'm going to be stuck fixing it until I die," Steve complained.

"Poor Steve. Be lucky that she was the only one who slammed it today with how busy it was. I didn't even get a chance to listen to the radio," Soda said.

"Why are you still listening to that? I like the music too but _you_ just want updates on Lynch."

"I have to Steve. Darry may not want me to, but I have to make Pony feel safe again; and keeping up with Lynch's killing spree is the only way I think will work," Soda said as he unlatched the gate and walked up to the house. Steve took this opportunity to run ahead blocking Soda's path.

"Look buddy, all the news is gonna tell you are about more kidnappings and murders. You nearly passed out on me when you found out more about Lynch from that Gregory kid's family. What if something worse comes up then he's just doing all this for fun? How exactly will this help the kid?" Steve asked.

"It will…..to be honest I don't know what good it will do but if Pony can see that I'm doing it…"

"You're the kid's brother! He always looks up to you and trusts you with his life. Isn't that enough?!" Steve interrupted.

"Not anymore," Soda said and walked past Steve up to the porch.

' _Damn you kid'_ Steve whispered to himself so that Soda wouldn't hear. He then walked up the porch as Soda was opening the door. As soon as it was opened, Sodapop froze where he stood. Not a single light was turned on throughout the entire house nor was the T.V or radio on. There were no sounds of pots and pans clinking together or the chatter of friends who had grown up together.

"Uh, buddy? You alright?" Steve asked from behind him. Soda snapped out of his daze and at last walked fully inside. Afterwards, he went over to the wall and turned on the living room light to get a proper view of the living room.

The room had been recently cleaned; the pillows had been fluffed, the dishes that Two-bit had left that morning were gone, the floor had been vacuumed, and the table had been wiped clean. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was a few of his mother's photo albums lying on the coffee table with some pictures just discarded on the sofa carelessly.

"Darry? Pony?" Soda called but received no answer. He walked through the nearly spotless living room straight into the kitchen and saw someone sitting at the table. Quickly, Soda turned on the light and saw Darry sitting at the table still wearing his uniform with his right hand covering his forehead facing away from Soda. "Darry?" Soda called out but Darry remained motionless. "Darry? What's wrong?" Soda asked again but got the same response. After a few more seconds of silence, Darry finally spoke.

"Soda," was all he said in a horse voice. It was then that he turned around to look at Soda. Darry's eyes were blood-shot red with semi-dry tear tracks running down his cheek along with his breathing being nothing but shaky breaths. He looked up at his brother and looked away when he tried to make eye-contact with him. However, Soda beat him to it and glanced into his icy blue eyes. It was only for a faction of a second but it was all Soda needed causing him to gasp at what he saw.

Soda's vision suddenly started to get blurry as his heartbeat sped up with every second that passed afterwards. At that moment, Darry turned his head away from Soda and closed his eyes putting his hand back on his forehead. Seeing this, Soda's breath now turned into loud, long gasps and started back away from his older brother slowly while shaking his head no. Tears had begun to roll down his cheeks in full force by the time he got to the end of the kitchen area where his best friend stood leaning on the side wall. Steve's mouth was open at this point but no words came out.

Without any warning, Soda fled the room racing past the living room and out the front door. He slammed open the gate and took off sprinting as fast as he could with his destination unknown.

"PONY!" He shouted as he ran down the street.

No reply was heard back.

"No, please God no!" He said as tears continued to fall. He continued running and calling out his brother's name until he found himself at the park; the same one where Bob had been killed. Soda stopped running and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. After getting in a few deep breaths, he stood up and put his hands to sides of his mouth before calling out again.

"PONYBOY!" He shouted as loud as he could. Yet still no one answered his call.

Soda now fell to his knees letting out a small sob and scanned the area one last time for his brother. Seeing nothing, he bent over and screamed into the grass.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHA! PONY!" he cried. Darry and Steve at this point had caught up with Soda after chasing him down. As soon as Darry saw his little brother screaming, he slowly made his way over to him falling to his knees and put his arms around Soda's back. As the sixteen year old continued to scream, Darry looked up and watched the last inch of gold in the sky disappear leaving nothing but darkness.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Meanwhile, just outside the city limits, Ponyboy awoke and realized he was lying on something hard and that his back hurt just as it had for _that one week_. A chill ran through his body making him shiver.

'No, I can't be here again. I can't!' he thought to himself. Abruptly, he opened his eyes instantly shutting them again when he felt the throbbing pain in his skull. He rubbed the temples of his head while trying once again to open his eyes. At the same time, Ponyboy lifted himself off the ground and heard something 'clank' together while also feeling something tighten around his ankle. This time, his eyes opened and tried to see why his ankle felt so tight but couldn't. He was surrounded completely by darkness with not a speck of light anywhere. Then a hard musty smell hit him and he scrunched up his nose.

'Huh?' he thought to himself and instantly felt something rough next to him. Ponyboy jerked his hand away turning his head to where his hand just was. Once again, he carefully put his hand back down and felt the roughness. He moved his hand around the area and felt something smooth and circular on top of the roughness.

'Is that a button? A jacket? No wait! A jean jacket!'

"J-Johnny?" Ponyboy called out and heard someone shifting around. The person grunted and then a familiar voice was heard.

"Pony?" The voice said.

"Johnny is that you?" Pony asked.

"Yeah it's me Pony. Where…?" Johnny asked but then gave a horrific gasp. "Pony! Mr. Glass…he…" Johnny got out but the sound of a padlock being opened from outside was heard. The two froze as they heard a door slide open on the far left side. A silhouette of a man now stood standing in front of the entranceway to even more darkness outside.

"Ah boys! Welcome! I hope you will enjoyyour stay with me, but I'm afraid the _activities_ won't start until tomorrow. But fear not as I'll give you a little sneak peak at what's to come," The man said. "Oh! Please forgive me, I forgot to light the lanterns," he said and the boys heard another sound of a lock being opened as well as different items being shifted around. Ponyboy moved to the left where Johnny was and the two held on to each other waiting for the man's next move. The shifting stopped and the two friends saw a match being lit and right afterwards a lantern was lit lighting up the room a little. Now, Ponyboy and Johnny looked around and saw that they were in some kind of large barn. Ponyboy looked up at their 'host' and saw a white man with dark blonde hair, green eyes, and a deep scar running down the side of his face from his left eyebrow all the way down to his chin.

"Y…you. You're _h-him_ aren't you?" Johnny asked moving closer to Ponyboy as the two still held on to each other. Memories of earlier that day now came back to Ponyboy starting with the school shooting, Mr. Glass being dead, and being kidnapped by the serial killer in front of him.

"Harrison J. Lynch at your service Jonathan," he said casually while he continued lighting more lanterns. With each new lantern that was lit, the room grew brighter as now they could see a bulletin board with hooks on it as well as a table with little stands on top of them. By the barn door was a cardboard box opened with the flaps sticking out. Ponyboy at this time looked down and saw a shackle on his and Johnny's ankle with a chain that was attached to a rusty metal hook connected to the wall. There was also a latter leading up to a second floor with hay bales and crates as well as another pair of large shackles longer than the ones they had hanging over the edge with dried blood caked all over them.

"Wonderful! Now that _that's_ done, allow me to set up what's to come," Lynch said and went back over to his box _._ He carried the box over to the table and started pulling out various items. First he pulled out a whip with some blood stained on it along with an empty bucket and hung them up on the hooks. Then he pulled out some knifes ranging from a pocket knife to large steak knives and placed them carefully on the stands. Gently he stroked each knife carefully like an artist admiring his work as soon as it was in place. Afterwards, he pulled out a small wooden box, pulled out a golden key from his pocket, unlocked the box, and pulled out a small black semi-automatic pistol. Afterwards, he turned around to face Ponyboy and Johnny.

"I'm going to tell you two a little secret. I can't stand these things," Lynch said looking at the gun with disgust. "It's too…..easy but it will get used if there are any _issues_ ," he said and took some bullets and loaded them in the gun. Soon after he aimed the loaded gun at the two who squeezed their eyes shut squeezing each other tighter. Lynch laughed at the two's cowardness and tossed the gun on the table close to the edge away from his little 'display'. "You know I think you get the idea now," Lynch said and walked back towards the entranceway taking one of the lanterns hanging up with him. "Sweet dreams," he said and left the two friends with the lanterns still burning.

 **Break*Break*Break**

"… _while sixteen year old Scott Gregory has been found alive, but in critical condition, it has been reported that Harrison Lynch has stroke once again in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Principle James Grant of Tulsa High school reported that a school shooting took place around noon today and during the commotion, Harrison Lynch took not one but two students; fourteen year old Ponyboy Curtis and sixteen year old Jonathan Cade. An investigation is still being conducted as we speak and we pray that they will be found and returned safely to their families. We'll keep you updated as this story progresses on._

 **Was that worth the wait? Not quite? Oh don't worry cause the fun hasn't even started yet. Anyways I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Don't own Outsiders**

9:58pm  
Tulsa Police Department

It had been almost nine hours since Ponyboy and Johnny were last seen being pushed into a serial killer's car. Darry sat on a bench at the police station with his little brother resting his head in his lap as he stroke his hair. Soda lay there in a daze staring straight ahead at the wall across from them. His face was pale and hands felt clammy to the touch as well as his heart rate being faster than normal. It was as if that bright happy-go-lucky kid that had always left in the morning never existed. The teen hadn't said a word since his older brother dragged him home from the park and then to the station after they had received word to come down. Darry on the other hand had a blank expression on his face staring at each strand of Sodapop's greasy hair; his eyes gradually becoming heavy with each minute that passed. Next to them sat Two-bit and Steve who refused to leave even when told to.

That's when Chief Conway's office door opened and the chief himself walked out snapping Soda out of his current state. "Come on in boys," he said to them before walking right back in. Soda sat up from Darry's lap and the group slowly walked in the office with Darry's arm across Soda's shoulder. Inside besides the police chief, was a tall man leaning against the wall with dark and a few strands of grey hair in his early to mid forties wearing a blue suit and tie.

"Alright, just cut the crap and tell us what we're dealing with," Steve barked crossing his arms.

"Well first things first. This is Richard Helms, lead agent of the FBI who will be taking over a majority of this investigation," the chief said motioning over to the man who stood up straight and went over to Darry to shake his hand.

"Hello Mr. Curtis," Mr. Helms said.

"Nice to meet you sir. This is my brother Sodapop and our friends Two-bit and Steve," Darry said.

"Pleased to meet you all. Now firstly, I want each of you to go to go with one of my agents to be interviewed about your relationship with the victims and also how you're involved in this case," he explained.

"Wait what?! _Our_ involvement?!" Steve shouted the same time Two-Bit said "What the hell is that suppose to mean?!"

"You think _we're_ the ones who kidnapped Pony and Johnny?!" Steve continued to scream.

"It's just a precaution to make sure that we have _all_ the facts gentlemen. Of course you aren't required but I strongly recommend it so we know this won't be a waste of our time and yours. From what I've gathered already, Mr. Curtis and Mr. Cade have previously run away after a murder that Mr. Cade committed. How am I supposed to know they didn't do it again and Lynch isn't even involved in this?" Mr. Helms asked.

"THAT WAS FU***** SELF DEFENSE! HE DIDN'T…" Two-bit shouted.

"Two-bit shut up!" Darry said interrupting. "What do you mean that Lynch isn't involved? Pony and Johnny's principle said…"

"I'm well aware of what he and countless others have testified but as I said, it's just a precaution. I want to hear your sides of the story gentlemen. So what's it going to be Darrel?" he asked crossing his arms.

"Fine, I'll do it but my brother Sodapop's not in any shape right now to be interviewed about this, Darry said.

"If that's what it must be. Shall we Mr. Curtis," he asked motioning his hand towards the door.

"I'll be right back little buddy," Darry whispered to Soda after putting a hand on his shoulder. Soda nodded in reply not moving from whatever he was staring at. Darry then gave a slight nod to Steve and Two-bit while following Mr. Helms to the interview room near the front of the police station. Inside there was two chairs chair, table with a tape recorder and desk lamp sitting on top of it, as well as another agent watching them through a glass window.

"Have a seat Mr. Curtis and make yourself comfortable," Mr. Helms said and Darry sat down in one of the chairs.

"Alright, I'm going to ask you a few questions Darrel and you are required to answer truthfully and to the best of your ability. If you wish to lie to me about something, I'll find out about it one way or another and that won't look very good now will it Mr. Curtis?" Mr. Helms asked getting a pad and pencil out.

"Why does it still seem like you think _I_ had something to do with my brother and my friend's disappearance?" Darry asked.

"I didn't say that. As I told you, we're just getting the facts," he replied and turned on the tape recorder.

"Now then Mr. Curtis, tell me what your relationship is to the victims," Mr. Helms asked.

"Ponyboy is my little brother and Johnny is a family friend," Darry responded.

"I see, and describe to me in precise detail what happened on September 14th 1967."

"Well it started like any other day. I got Ponyboy and Johnny who's been staying at our place for the past few days up for breakfast before I drove them to school. We all had breakfast and then I dropped them off at school before dropping off Soda at the DX gas station where he works before heading to work myself. It was around one when I got a call from Pony's school shortly after I came back from my lunch break that the school principle wanted to talk to me; something about some kind of trouble. I went to the school and saw all the police cars and ambulances at the school and that's when I found out that Pony and Johnny had been kidnapped," Darry explained.

"Interesting, and has Ponyboy or Johnny been acting out of the ordinary this past week?" he continued asking writing down Darry's response.

"They've just been shaken up because of Lynch. We've been hearing all about it over the radio. Then we heard about Scott Gregory being found right across from where Soda works. I think it really messed Ponyboy up. Johnny's normally a quiet kid but I can tell he's been bothered by this too," Darry said.

"Yes I'm sure any person would be. You have full custody of your brothers' correct Mr. Curtis?"

"Yes sir."

"And from what I've gathered, you even had a scholarship from school because you played quarterback on the football team. Such a shame you had to give all that up for your brothers. Do you ever regret it?" Mr. Helms asked.

"No, my brothers mean everything to me," Darry stated as a matter of fact.

"Not even a little bit? You were on top of the work with a full blown scholarship to a top school and you just went and threw it all away to a life raising two teenagers at twenty years old where you barley make ends meet. Why didn't you just let the state take your brothers? It would just be until they each turned eighteen and you could have gone to college and live your dream," Mr. Helms continued.

"First of all, we're doing just fine making ends meet. And second, yeah, I was a little upset chucking the scholarship and forgetting about college but I couldn't give up my brothers. We're all we got left."

"So you blame your brothers for what happened?"

"What?! No! _I_ made the choice; not them!" Darry said.

"Yet according to this," Mr. Helms said opening the file and showed him what was stacked on top. Darry's eyes widened when he was shown a newspaper clipping; the same one that was all about them after Ponyboy had save those children. Darry only glanced at it and started to reread it when Mr. Helms pulled it back. "You allowed Sodapop to drop out of school where he now has to work twelve hours a day at a gas station. Does Sodapop help out with the bills?"

"Y-yeah, but we all…"

"Could it be, Mr. Curtis that you are trying to get revenge on your brothers because of what you had to give up?"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Darry screamed slamming his fist against the table. "You've got the wrong idea about me Mr. Helms."

"Do I? Does Ponyboy feel safe at home with you?" he asked and Darry gasped and fell silent. He paused before finally answering.

"Y-yeah, he does," Darry said looking down at the table.

"You're lying to me Mr. Curtis," Mr. Helms said shaking his head. "Ponyboy hasn't been feeling safe with you hasn't he?" Darry swallowed the lump in his throat before answering.

"He was at first…" Darry said only to be interrupted by a shriek coming from a nearby room that gave Darry goose bumps.

"PONY!" a familiar voice screamed.

"Soda!" Darry shouted and shot up so fast it knocked the chair he was sitting in down running out of the room ignoring Mr. Helm's protest.

"WHAT THE FU** DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Darry heard Steve shout. He used Steve's screaming to find a room down the hall identical to his with another FBI agent standing in a corner emotionless with a tape recorder on a table. On the ground next to a knocked down chair was Soda holding his knees rocking back and forth sobbing with Steve trying to console him.

"You two aren't allowed in here!" the agent said crossing his arms and that's when Mr. Helms came in.

"You interview him?! What the hell is wrong with you?! I told you he wasn't in any shape!" Darry shouted at him.

"If you want me to do my job in locating your brother safely Mr. Curtis we all need to cooperate quickly! I can't wait until your brother is feeling better to get my facts."

"Is that all you care about?! Your damn facts?!" Steve cried.

"No, I care about finding these two boys alive and capturing Harrison Lynch once and for all," Helms explained.

"And just how many boys have you found alive?" Two-bit asked coming into the room.

"I don't think I should say in here.."

"ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!" Steve shouted.

"Out of the forty-three teenagers that Harrison Lynch has kidnapped, only one has been found completely intact; and it's Scott Gregory who's currently in a coma," Helms said.

 **Next chapter we will go back to Pony and Johnny. Also just to let you all know, Richard Helms was the actual director of the CIA in 1967. I have no personal issues with him whatsoever; even if he's being a real jerk to our Greaser buddies. Anyways I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Still don't own The Outsiders**

Back at the barn, darkness was the only thing keeping the boys company in their prison. The sky was just beginning to grow brighter as the night drew to a close. A cool autumn chill swept through the barn shivering the boys who were currently huddled together.

"D-did you see Mr. Glass?" Johnny asked with his voice quivering. "He killed him. He was with us in the hall and he just killed him!" he sobbed as thick tears rolled down his face. Ponyboy couldn't find any words to say back as tears also rolled down his face as he held on to Johnny tighter. Suddenly there was a commotion from outside the barn door.

"We're gonna die," Ponyboy got out before the barn door opened. Lynch walked inside carrying two more boxes.

"Rise and shine boys!" He said cheerfully. "It's time," he said setting the boxes down and once again opened the one at the top.

"Now, which to start with?" he said slowly. "Should I go for the whip? Maybe. I don't want to do the knives just yet. The bucket's for later. You know what? I think I'll start off easy," he said and pulled out a long belt with a big buckle on the end.

"N-no, get away from us!" Ponyboy shouted trying to scoot back further then the barn wall as Lynch walked towards them.

"Scared Ponyboy? I think I'll let you go first," Lynch said and before either Ponyboy or Johnny could react, raised the belt and whipped it forward hitting Ponyboy's back.

"AHH!" Ponyboy shouted and Lynch hit him again.

"STOP IT!" Johnny ordered but was only hit with the belt that landed on his shoulder.

"I know you get punished like this every day Johnny-boy. So I'll come back to you later," he said and once again hit Ponyboy in the back. He arched his back backwards as soon as it made contact screaming and Lynch hit him in the chest now causing him to fall to the ground on his back. Lynch went to stand over top of him and continued beating him.

"DARRY!" Ponyboy screamed.

"You're brother ain't here Ponyboy. It's just you, me, and Johnny-boy" he said and continued whipping him faster and harder. Ponyboy tried moving away as he continued to scream but Lynch put his boot on his chest and started stomping on him.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Johnny hollered and started crawling over to them as fast as he could but was kicked in the head with so much force that he fell backwards hitting his head on the ground.

"Aww," Johnny moaned as he lay on the ground not moving.

"Johnny," Ponyboy said through tears. His skin now felt like it was on fire as little red stains started to drip down his shirt and onto the hard ground.

At last, Lynch finally got off of Ponyboy after one last harsh whip and went over to the table placing the now caked in blood belt on it. Ponyboy just lay there holding his left hip still crying with his breath being nothing more but hiccups. Small puddles of blood droplets surrounded him but it was nothing compared to the stinging of his entire body.

"D…Darry. H-help me," he whimpered.

"You're already broken? Dammit kid I thought you'd last longer. Oh well. Just wait till you boys see just what I have in store for you in the coming weeks. It's going to be so much _fun,"_ he said and grinned like a cat. "Now as much fun it is to have multiple guests fight back, I'm afraid that there is only room for one person to fight back. Don't want you boys leaving ahead of schedule." With that, Lynch went over and dragged the battered Ponyboy further to the left where a shorter pair of wall shackles once again with faded blood marks. Ponyboy tried to move side to side to escape Lynch, but Lynch's grip just tightened. He then tightly fastened the 'new' shackles on Ponyboy's wrists.

"There we go! Now what should I do for Johnny-boy?" he asked going over to the bulletin board. He then grabbed the brown whip with dry bloodstains still on the end. Afterwards, he started walking over to Johnny. Johnny saw this and tried moving but his head felt dizzying being unable to concentrate on a object for too long.

"Get away from me! NO!" Johnny screamed but the whip came down with a 'crack' landing right on Johnny's cheek near the mark on his face where he was jumped and a Soc's ring had cut him. Just like he did for Ponyboy, Lynch stood on either side of Johnny and continued whipping him each time harder than the last.

"AHH!" Johnny shrieked each time he was hit. Ponyboy meanwhile watched in horror flinching each time he heard the crack of the whip hit his best friend's flesh trying to find the strength to break the shackles off the wall, but they just held on.

After what felt like a millennium, Lynch stopped his whipping and left Johnny battered and broken on the floor just starting up at the ceiling with eyes that were barely open. His white t-shirt had large spots of red surrounding areas that had been completely ripped. Lynch now carefully started to wrap the whip in a circle before hanging it back up on the hook.

"I hope you don't mind, but I have to get ready for my second job. We'll finish this up later," Lynch said and left the room once again still leaving the candles still lit.

"Johnny?" Ponyboy moaned after he heard the 'click' of a padlock from outside.

"I'm here Pone," Johnny whisper still looking up at the ceiling. Pony boasted himself up with his arms and somewhat dragged himself back over to where Johnny lay as far as the shackles would allow him. It wasn't enough for the two to touch each other, but they weren't as far apart now.

"He fights harder than the Socs," Johnny cried not moving.

"We're gonna die," Pony said again with his voice cracking. "Darry, Soda, I wanna go home!" he sobbed as more tears started to roll down his face. Johnny tilted his head towards Pony's and at a snail's pace, crawled closer to Ponyboy. Johnny reached out his hand and managed to touch the tip of Ponyboy's pointer finger. He then moved his own pointer finger back and forth against Pony's as the two drifted off into a painful slumber.

 **Break*Break*Break**

The boys hadn't been allowed to leave the station until around 1:00am. Darry told the others to just go home for now and get some rest while he took Soda home. Soda continued to be in a daze like trance the entire ride home until at last they arrived home and Darry put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Pepsi-cola," Darry mumbled using his dad's old nickname for him. Soda continued to sit there with his eyes closed as a few stray tears finished rolling down his cheek. He finally looked up at Darry, now with matching blood-shot eyes and slowly started to get out of the car as did Darry but slightly faster. He ran over to the passenger side and put his arm around Soda's shoulder as they walked back into the house together.

"A-are you hungry?" Darry asked.

"No," Soda got out.

"Okay. Why don't you just go to bed?" Darry suggested.

"What's the point?" Soda asked.

"Don't give me that. You need your rest. Come on," Darry said pushing him towards the bedroom. They went inside and Darry turned on the light guiding him over to the bed. Suddenly Soda jumped out of the embrace and collapsed to his knees to the floor crying again. Darry had no words to say to his distraught brother so just kneeled next to him holding him close just like he had done in the park.

"We promised…we promised we'd keep him safe," Soda whimpered as more tears were falling from his eyes.

"I know," Darry whispered. "I know."

"WHY DIDN'T WE DO ANYTHING?!" Soda screamed.

"Pepsi…," Darry begged in a fragile voice ready to crack any second and he gently and slowly slid down to the floor. He then rocked Soda back and forth never slacking on his grip while placing his head on top of Soda's.

"I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD HAVE WORRIED MORE ABOUT THIS! I TOLD YOU!" Soda shouted struggling to get free from Darry.

. "Soda…"

"Now he's gone!" Soda sobbed. "He's dead!"

"SHUT UP!" Darry snapped as a stray tear found its way pass the dam and made its way down Darry's cheek but used Soda's hair to quickly rub it away. Soda pushed and pulled with all his might trying to get away.

"Pony," Soda sobbed as his already weakened strength continued to deteriorate.

Finally Soda just tucked his head to his chest holding on tightly to the arms that were still securely wrapped around his chest allowing the last remaining tears to fall down.

"We can't lose him," Soda said his voice now becoming strained. "We can't lose him like mom and dad."

"Shhhhhhh," Darry hushed. The dam in Darry's eyes collapsed and thick, sloppy tears rolled straight down his cheek with no stops or pauses. His whole body started to shake as he took rapid breaths letting the hidden sobs roam free like a wild animal in a jungle. Memories of that awful week plagued his mind. Being unaware of where Ponyboy was. Not knowing if he'd ever see his brother again. The pain and guilt he had felt after he'd hit his baby brother. "We're never going to stop until we find our brother and bring him and Johnny home," Darry stated releasing Soda and making him look straight into his eyes allowing Soda to see his personal tears running down while cupping his face in his hands.

"W-what if he's…"

"He won't be!" Darry snapped unintentionally. "He can't be," he whispered this time. Soda took a deep inhale and slowly letting his anger and fear wash away before nodding his head. The two brothers quickly embraced one more time before Darry helped Soda back up and gently pushed him towards the bed. Soda went over to Pony's side of the bed lying on his side taking in the scent of Ponyboy on his pillow. Darry meanwhile turned out the light and crawled into bed right next to him once again putting his arms around his little brother.

 **Anyone need any tissues and a hug? Anyone? Either way, sorry it's short, but I hope the wait was still somewhat worth it. Like I said, from here on out is when it'll start to get intense. Now excuse me because I need to hide from some certain overprotective older brothers and a friend who happens to be in jail right now.**

 **Until next time,**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	13. Chapter 13

**Uh….hi guys. Why haven't I updated in a while? Because life sucks; well for the most part. Anyways, I won't keep you waiting any more.**

 **Disclaimer:** Still don't own the Outsiders (unfortunately).

 **Curtis Home  
7:09am **

Darry woke up the next morning to the telephone ringing. He opened his eyes looking over to see that he now was the only one in the bed. Slowly, he sighed and got out of bed heading for the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Darry? It's Jim. I'm sorry for calling so early but I wanted to catch you before you left. I heard about your brother over the radio and I can't tell you how sorry I am.

"Thanks Jim, but this isn't going to stop me from getting the job I need to do done," Darry explained.

"No Curtis. I don't want you coming into work today. Not just because I feel sorry for you, but it's a safety issue. I don't care how good you think you are at hiding your emotions, you're not going to be able to concentrate on that roof when someone has kidnapped your brother. Take the day off or-you know what? I'm giving you the entire week off so you can cope with this and be with your other brother."

"Jim, no. I can't afford to take an entire week off…"

"Then take 'afford' out of your mind. I promise, I'll pay you for the days you miss as vacation time but you're not coming in! Last thing I need is you falling off the roof because your thinking about your brother missing.

"But…"

"Let me put it to ya this way Curtis. If I see you over here, then you can kiss your job goodbye and I'm not kidding. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Darry replied.

"Good. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call," Jim said and hung up without a goodbye. Darry hung up the phone and walked towards the front door which was slightly opened. Darry fully opened the door and saw Soda sitting on the steps in his white shirt and shorts looking at the sky as the birds chirped away greeting the sky. He opened the screen door and sat next to him.

"What are you doing out here?" Darry asked.

"It never came," Soda mumbled.

"What never came?"

"The sunrise. Pony always said he liked sunrises more than sunsets. But it didn't come today; it's just grey clouds," he said and Darry looked up at the grey sky with him while putting an arm around him holding his little brother close. Soda allowed a few tears to fall down his face as he leaned into Darry's embrace.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes before Soda stood up and went back into the house with Darry following close behind. Soda then went over to the radio and turned it on before sitting on the sofa, but Darry raced over immediately turning it off.

"You really think that's a great idea?" Darry asked.

"Maybe they found something," Soda said.

"So the radio station found out something about Pony and Johnny _before_ the FBI and no one bothered to tell _us_ about it?" Darry asked and Soda just shrugged his shoulders.

"I HATE THIS!" Soda said slamming his fist against the sofa.

"Me too little buddy," Darry said . Once again, the two sat in silence for a moment before Darry broke it. "Are you working today?"

"No. Steve's letting boss know when we open. He's working a full shift since they're still…..i-investigating the high school," Soda mumbled.

"Really?" Darry said while putting his hands in his pockets. "Pepsi, I'm gonna go out for a minute. I'll be back soon."

"Where're you going?" Soda asked.

"Just…out," Darry said.

"Can I go?" he asked.

"No, just stay here alright?" Darry said going over to the table and grabbing the keys to the truck.

"Darry!" Soda said and Darry looked back up at Soda. "I wanna see if they found anything too," he said softly. Darry rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Fine, you can go too."

 **Break*Break*Break**

Soda and Darry arrived at the school that was surrounded by a couple of reporters and some teachers.

"Soda, just wait in the truck. You don't need to see this," Darry said.

"It's fine. I'll be alright!" Soda barked getting out of the truck and slamming the door shut. Darry rolled his eyes and he got out and walked over to the crime scene with Soda. However, the two froze when they got a good view passed the taped up scene. There was a body on the ground near the backdoor entrance with dried up blood everywhere surrounding it both on the concrete and the grass nearby. A photographer was carefully taking pictures of various objects scattered on the ground including a knife with more dried blood on the blade, a baton, and another body that was closer to the parking lot.

"Oh God," Soda mumbled when he saw the amount of dried blood on the grass and concrete.

"…Most of that blood isn't Pony's or Johnny's I heard one of them agents say," a familiar voice said. Darry and Soda looked to their right and saw Two-bit standing there with his hands clutching the yellow tape in front of them.

"What are you doing here?" Darry asked.

"Eh I couldn't really sleep so I'd thought I'd come down here for a bit to see if I could find out some stuff about the kidnapping," he explained.

"Did they tell you anything?" Soda asked.

"Not much. Turns out that bas**** killed the science sub over there around the time he grabbed Pony and Johnny," Two-bit explained.

"Who's the other guy?" Darry asked.

"Didn't hear his name, but I overheard one of the detectives whisper that he's got a record downtown," Two-bit explained and then turned his attention to a middle aged man with brown hair. "Hey! Look who's here playing detective again. Hey Helms!" Two-bit shouted. Richard Helms looked at the little group and stomped his way over. "You mind telling us what the hell is going on here?"

"What are you all doing here? You need to be standing by at your house in case Lynch makes a ransom," Helms told Darry in particular.

"You know damn well he ain't gonna be calling for a ransom. He kidnaps and tortures kids as a hobby for God sake!" Soda snapped.

"Where did you hear that?!" Helms asked and Soda just crossed his arms glaring at him. Helms slammed the pencil on the ground and stormed over to the group stepping over the police tape. "Come with me," he snapped and the group followed him to a trailer. They walked inside that was filled with notebooks, zipped lock bags with various clues, and hundreds of papers everywhere. Immediately in front of a little kitchen area was a large map of the mid-west with little red and blue pins in various locations with some post-it notes scattered around.

"Look, you all can't just go around yelling out how Lynch is a killer who tortures children for fun. It'll start a massive panic around town more than it already is. I understand that you want to find your brother and friend Curtis but there's a reason why he hasn't been caught yet, and some of what we've discovered…. " Helms said surprisingly calm until Darry gave a deep glare at him. "Nevermind. I promise my team is going to do everything in our power to find your brother and friend."

"Promise me you'll find them alive," Soda said with glassy eyes and a shaky voice.

"….I can't….." Helms said turning his head away from them.

"Then let us help you search. Please!" Darry pleaded. The group sat in silence for a minute before a knock on the door was heard. Helms got up and went to answer it. He opened the door and saw a middle-aged man with glasses gasping for a breath.

"Sir? I'm sorry to interrupt but…..we….we found something in the suspect's car that you might want to see," he said. Helms quickly glanced at the trio before stepping out. Darry, Soda, and Two-bit got up and followed Helms to the parking lot where a blue car was. The trunk was opened with a few agents standing by with a man taking photographs of something.

"What have we got gentlemen?" Helms asked and went to the trunk to begin scanning whatever was in the back of the car. That's when Richard's eyes went wide and gave a quick glance at Darry, Soda and Two-bit.

"Darrel? Come over here please," Helms said and picked up a black binder while he came over. "Don't touch it whatever you do," he said and turned the binder over so Darry could see it.

 **Name** : Ponyboy Michael Curtis

 **Age:** 14

 **Address** : 397 Cedar Lane

 **Family**

Mother and Father deceased from car wreck. Older brother Darrel Shane Curtis Jr. (20) has legal custody of him and other brother Sodapop Patrick Curtis (16).

 **Likes:** Reading, daydreaming, running track for Tulsa track and field, watching sunsets, going to movies, writing

"What the hell is this?!" Darry asked and Soda came over. Helms turned the page and there were photographs of Ponyboy walking to school, running on the track, and the newspaper article all about them after they had saved the kids in Windrexville. There were also some pictures of that day when they all went to the lot together to play football and Ponyboy sitting by his window smoking while watching the sunset. Soda was at a loss for words as all the color from him face disappeared once more.

"He's been watching us this whole time?!" Soda gasped. With that, Darry grabbed Soda's shoulder and squeezed him as close as he could muster. He eyes unwilling to look away from the horror in front of him as a chill continually went up and down his spine. Some of the agents stealthily started looking around over their shoulder for something unusual.

"Get forensics to scan these books for prints. Our theory may just be fact gentlemen," Helms said putting the books back down.

"What theory?!" Two-bit asked.

"Shhhhhhhhh! The press is still here! We can talk more back in the trailer," Helms whispered and the group ran back to the trailer locking the door behind them.

"So what's this _theory_?" Two-bit asked again.

"Why the hell does someone have pictures and information about me and my brothers? Whose car is that?" Darry demanded.

"Do you know that teacher that we found dead by the school?" Helms asked.

"Mr. Glass? He was our science substitute," Two-bit said.

"Well…some of Tulsa's homicide squad did an examination of his body and found a total of $500 in his pocket and some clutched in his hand."

 **Break*Break*Break**

 **Meanwhile on the outskirts of Tulsa**

Ponyboy shot up from his deep slumber when hundreds of sharp needles attacked his body all of a sudden. He screamed and heard Johnny gasp for air next to him. Both boys were soaking wet with Lynch standing in front of them holding a now empty bucket.

"Godammit!" Lynch said and kicked Ponyboy.

"Ahh!" Ponyboy let out.

"I'm such an idiot. I wanted to use water torture today but now I can't because you're already wet! Man!" he complained as he stomped his way back to the stand while Johnny and Ponyboy shivered still holding onto each other. "That messed up my whole schedule for today. _Now_ what do we do?" Lynch asked grabbing his chin and using his pointer finger to tap it as well.

"I'm really not in the mood for ceiling chains today so…I guess this will have to do," he continued and ran over to the table. Carefully, he stroked his hand across his display of knifes slowly. "I don't know why I'm not really into it today. I guess because I had an unexpected late shift, but the investigation of the crime scene after a homicide and kidnapping always takes forever. Maybe I'll feel better once I get started." Lynch selected a simple but longer than normal pocket blade. He then went over to Johnny sitting on top of him again while a blade was pressed against his neck. Johnny started gasping for air as he felt the cool, sharp blade against his neck completely petrified.

"Johnny!" Ponyboy screamed trying to move closer to him.

"Remember the Soc you killed Johnny-boy? The one you got off scot-free for killin'? Golly, when I read what you did in the paper, I was so proud of ya. Didn't it feel so satisfying to see the horror in his eyes? The fear?" Lynch asked with a huge grin so close that Johnny could smell a hint of alcohol.

"J-Johnny, don't listen to him!" Ponyboy said shivering.

"So that's why I picked ya. I just knew I had to meet ya in person; killer…to serial killer," Lynch said chuckling. Johnny shivered at that accidently causing the blade to cut him. "Now that's what everyone calls me of course, but to be honest; I don't see what the big deal is. There's just something about killing and torturing others _slowly_ that's just so….exciting. Don't worry though. I'm not going to bore you to death about my 'traumatic' childhood where the classic mother and step-father beats me up every day because no one cares about that." Lynch explained as Johnny started to cry.

"Yes! Give me more of that!" Lynch continued as his grip on the blade tightened and put more pressure. "It's just like how _you_ feel whenever the gang treats you like the little 'pet' of the group; the one everyone gets along with. Except for me, _this_ is how I find my joy."

"Please stop," Ponyboy begged reaching his arm out towards them and Lynch finally looked up at Ponyboy while still holding the knife to Johnny's throat.

"You know, it's rude to interrupt a host when he's working on another ' _guest'_ Ponyboy! Thought Darry would have taught you better by now but I guess not. After all, it's _your_ fault that he's in the situation he's in right now," he commented. "Darry could have been the one to work hard and get out of Tulsa. But instead, he just gave everything he had up just so _you_ could do it."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Ponyboy screamed squeezing his eyes shut and scrunching up his face as if he were in pain.

"UGH! Why am I not into it today?! Everything's in place but I'm not enjoying it the way I _should_ be. You know what? I think I'm done for today," Lynch said and removed the blade from Johnny's neck while getting off of him. "You might want to put this on your neck Johnny-boy. Can't have you dying on me just yet," he said tossing an old, wrinkly bandana from his pocket on Johnny's chest. With that, Lynch walked out the door slamming it shut behind him as the padlock was put back in place.

 **Well was** _ **that**_ **worth it or what?! I hope it was! This was fun, yet really hard to write if you can believe it.**

 **Review and Happy 2019!**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Still don't own The Outsiders if any of you didn't already know.**

"So what? And what does this have to do with your so called _theory?_ " Two-bit asked.

"Think! Glass was found murdered outside nearby where Ponyboy and Jonathan were kidnapped with that money in his pocket and some on the ground. Why would a substitute who just started teaching three days ago just so happen to carry $250 with him on hand while he's working; let alone after a kidnapping?" Helms asked. No one answered right away until Darry's face grew pale.

"He was in on it," Darry mumbled with wide eyes and Helm gave a slow nod.

"What?! Glass was Lynch the whole time?!" Two-bit shouted.

"That's not what I meant. I believe that there's a good chance that Lynch paid Glass money to get Ponyboy and Johnny out of the school so he could grab them. Lynch isn't stupid when selecting his victims, and that binder filled with information isn't the first time my team and I have come across something like that. Remember though, it's only a theory; not a statement," Helms explained.

"That don't make any damn sense! You just said this isn't the first time Lynch has had someone else helping with the kidnappings and we just found our evidence in the truck! How is that just a theory?!" Two-bit continued.

"Not enough evidence to support anything. Unfortunately, this isn't someone who keeps the same guy for all his victims. Yeah, it suspicious that Glass is dead and has a binder of two of his students who were just kidnapped and was the last person to see them before Lynch grabbed them, but that could have been planted by anyone."

"You know? I'm really getting sick and tired of all your ' _I need more facts'_ crap! What exactly are you doing to get my brother back alive?!" Soda yelled.

"Everything in my power Mr. Curtis, but this takes time! If you don't want to go back home and wait like I told you to, then go out and start looking around for leads, make posters or something and let me get back to work!" Helms barked back. Two-bit was just about to answer back when Darry stepped forward and held an arm out in front of him.

"He's right. Arguing with the FBI isn't going to bring Ponyboy and Johnny back any faster. Let's get the gang together and start searching around Tulsa or making posters," Darry said.

"Yeah, at least it'll give us something to do," Two-bit said.

"Alright. Two-bit, call the Sheppards' and get their gang to meet us at the DX in an hour or hour and a half. Soda, call Steve and let him know what's going on and go get the truck," Darry ordered passing him the keys and patting his shoulder. The two nodded and ran out of the trailer to do as they were told. Darry peaked out slowly and when he was sure they were far enough away, slammed the door shut again turning his attention completely on Helms.

"Alright, cut the bullcrap. What else do you know about him? What does he do? Where does he normally take them? I know you know something!" Darry demanded.

"That's classified Darrel. Trust me, it's for your own good," Helms said.

"The hell it is! You're hiding something from us!" Darry concluded.

"I'm not authorized to tell you anything Curtis so you better watch yourself or I just might have you arrested for preventing the investigation of a crime. Remember our little conversation about your brothers and _foster care_?" Helms threatened.

"Oh you mean the conversation that was none of your business?! What's this rumor I keep hearing about the letters?" Darry asked.

"What letters?" Helms asked.

"Oh, you're gonna play stupid again? I've got two little brothers to take care of and a killer on the loose. You think I _wasn't_ gonna start asking around for rumors when that Gregory kid was kidnapped by Pony's school? Why else do you think I'm trying to hide all this from Soda?" Darry asked.

"Look Darrel…I know you have no reason to trust me, but this man is sick. I understand your frustration, but there's only so much we can do," Helms explained.

"Then help me be prepared for what's to come. I promise I won't tell anyone what you tell me but I have to keep as much of this information away from Soda. Its bad enough he already knows about the whole torture for fun thing, but I know he won't be able to handle the letters if they really _are_ true. Please," he begged. Helms squeezed his lips together. The room stayed completely still as Darry waited for an answer. All that could be heard was faint chatter coming from outside.

"The letters aren't rumors; they're true but it's not always just letters," Helms said and went to a drawer pulling out a file tossing it on the table. "Lynch doesn't just love torturing his victims, he loves torturing his victim's loved ones as well," he said opening the file and handing some photographs to Darry. One was a photo of a picture of a small cardboard box, and another showed some pieces of long, black hair; some of which had dried blood covering them. "He'll do anything he can to get under your skin. With Ponyboy and Jonathan, it might be one of their shirts or a lock of hair or something like that. Just…be ready for anything," Helms said. Darry felt his heart drop and with a shaky breath, nodded his head. "I'm not a psychologist or anything like that Darrel, but I don't think you should hide this from Sodapop. Not just because it'll be hard to hide, but at least if he knows, you'll be able to calm down together and continue the search."

"I can't do that to Soda. It'll traumatize him even more," Darry insisted.

"Suit yourself, but you really shouldn't be carrying this much on your shoulders by yourself," Helms said.

"How about you quit worrying about me, and find my little brother and friend!" Darry snapped and stormed out of the trailer slamming the door shut again. Once outside, Darry leaned his head back against the door taking a few deep breaths while looking up at the clearing up sky.

After he was ready, he quickly rubbed his eyes and walked back towards the parking lot when Soda pulled up with Two-Bit sitting in the back. He put the truck into 'park' and then scooted over to the passenger side.

"Sheppard's gonna gather some of his gang and meet us over there," Two-bit explained.

"We'll take what we can get," Darry said now behind the wheel and drove away.

 **Break*Break*Break**

 **An Hour Later**

 **DX Gas Station**

At around one o'clock in the afternoon, there were about five cars and trucks at the station. Most of them were from Tim's gang, but a few were full of students from school including Randy and some of Pony's track team members.

"Two hours is all we're giving ya for now Curtis," Tim said.

"We'll take whatever you'll give us Tim," Darry said coming over and shaking hands with the gang leader.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" One of Tim's gang asked.

"A possible lead," someone said behind him. The gang turned around and saw some men in suits and a few police officers. The one leading the way was a thin man wearing all black and wearing a camera around his neck. His had dark, black hair as well as a small beard that went up his chin and then around his mouth.

"Aw great. Now we got the fuzz involved in this? Think I might just back out now," another greaser said.

"It's a kidnapping by a national fugitive; we'll be involved one way or another. Agent Carlos J. Brock and FBI forensics photographer," one of the agents introduced himself. "While Agent Helms can't have you interfering with the investigation, he _can_ offer you some assistance in your search for Ponyboy Curtis and Jonathan Cade. However there are strict terms that we must oblige. If we find any kind of evidence, all of you will be forced to vacate the area within twenty feet of the crime scene. The slightest bit of trouble from any one of you will result in your immediate prosecution and you all will be forbidden from doing any further investigating or searching. Is that understood?" he asked. Some people nodded but nearly everyone rolled their eyes.

"Good. Now based on our previous investigations, Lynch isn't going to hold Ponyboy and Jonathan in an area like downtown. He'll be more on the outskirts or farther away from any local home. Most likely to be in a barn or basement somewhere," Agent Carlos explained.

"Great, not like we live in the mid-west or anything like that," Two-bit commented.

"It's something. Now get a move on while we start asking questions downtown for anymore possible leads," Carlos said.

"Whatever. Alright boys, let's roll!" Another greaser said and they all ran to their cars shouting and hollering.

"I'll check out _my_ side of town while you guys are doing the outskirts. I know a few people who may know some areas where they might be," Randy told Darry.

"Thanks Randy, keep us updated," he said back. Randy nodded and ran to his car with two of Pony's track buddies. Darry meanwhile got back in the truck with Soda and Two-bit to start their search.

"You know those FBI guys are following us right?" Two-bit said seeing the black car following them from a safe distance.

"Unfortunately," Darry said back.

 **Break*Break*Break**

 **Meanwhile**

"See you next time Winston," an officer said literately pushing the greaser out of the reformatory doors. The greaser didn't say a word back to the officer for putting his hands on him. He just got out his heater that his cellmate had 'loaned' to him, and walked down the street with a scowl on his face and his world famous murderous eyes.

 **Kinda filler, but we found out more about Lynch and our most dangerous greaser buddy is back out now. Next time, we'll be back with Pony and Johnny.**

 **Until next time,**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow! 100 reviews? Sending a quick shout out to everyone who has supported this so far and I'll reward it with a new chapter. Also, I just want to make one thing clear. Just because I'm writing about a psychotic, thrill seeker, serial killer, that doesn't mean that this is a reflection of me. Well…yes, I am the one who is writing and making this happen but…I…...oh forget it! I'm not a serial killer and don't ever in this life or the next plan to ever become one. Also,** **beware this next chapter as more torture is taking place** **. You have been warned.**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own The Outsiders.**

Ponyboy opened his eyes slowly and moaned in pain. His teeth were chattering from the wet clothes and the evening air that was blowing through the cracks of the old barn. Ponyboy looked around the old barn and at the little 'display' in front of him before letting out a sob.

"Pony?" he heard Johnny mumble. Pony took a deep breath and let out more sobs from his mouth. He leaned over as much as the short chains would allow him almost like he was about to get sick gasping for air. He continued to hyperventilate for several minutes while staring down at the hard ground littered with some stray pieces of hay. Johnny could only watch as his friend struggled to take in a full breath of air. Suddenly, Ponyboy started tugging and pulling away from the wall ignoring the excruciating pain in his wrists and the rest of his body; but the chains would not break free. He kept trying, jerking his body faster every time the chains didn't break free.

"Pony, stop it. You're hurting yourself," Johnny said weakly but Pony didn't listen. "Pony!" Johnny shouted. This time Ponyboy stopped struggling and just looked at Johnny in the dimly lit room. Johnny just looked at him ignoring his shaky breathing. The two friends continued to just look at each other until Ponyboy laid back against the wall hiccupping while staring back at the 'display'.

"You think they're lookin' for us?" Johnny asked. Pony didn't answer but he managed to take one huge breath before letting it out slowly.

"I d-don't know," Ponyboy said in a quivering voice.

"I bet Darry and Soda are lookin' for you," he said. Ponyboy looked over at Johnny for a moment and then rested his head against the barn wall looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," he said closing his eyes picturing his older brother's faces. He remembered Soda grabbing him tight after he found him at the hospital and talking about his bleached hair only weeks ago. He remembered Darry crying and when they both held him with all their might. Pony let out a soft chuckle and he very slowly started to grin as he imagined his brothers holding him close.

All of a sudden, his daydream was interrupted by the latch of the farm door opening beginning to unlock. Both boys tensed up as the door opened and Lynched walked in wearing a pair of jeans, tan boots, and a black shirt. With him, he dragged a barstool and carried a black notebook and a pencil in his free hand. "Hello, boys. I apologize for the wait but my other job ran late," he said. "But don't worry, I'm feeling much better than I was yesterday. I've had a long day at work today and I think I deserve some fun right about now," he said and put the barstool down next to his display table. "Now that we've gotten better acquainted with one another, we can get started on our scrapbook!" he announced with a gleeful tone.

"S-scrapbook?" Johnny stuttered.

"Oh yes, Johnny-boy. You see, I want to make sure I remember all my guests that I capture and what I put them through; it'll almost be like I'm reliving their pain all over again. See?" he said and showed both boys one of the pages. It was several photographs of what looked like a sixteen-year-old cowering girl chained to a pole in what looked like some kind of basement. As soon as they saw the photographs, Johnny looked away while Ponyboy shut his eyes and looked down. On the next page was the date and a long paragraph

"Yes! I remember Rachel Boswell. I have to admit that her voice was the most beautiful out of all my victims," Lynch said and began to read the little entry next to the many pictures on the first page.

 _ **August 11**_ _ **th,**_ _ **1966,**_

 _What a beautiful canvas I painted upon this day._

 _My Rachel's voice was just beautiful, like a canary singing its heart away._

 _I can't describe the amount of joy she has brought to me these last few nights._

 _No woman sleeping by my side or carnival ride can take away the love I feel when my guests come to stay._

 _Or witness a mother weep as I continue to play._

 _She begged and begged for me to stop as I painted, but I couldn't stop now as my masterpiece wasn't just right._

"I could go on for hours, but this is all about you boys; not a girl that's been dead for months. Let's get started!" Lynch announced and went over to the box he had brought in when they first arrived and pulled out a camera. He quickly checked the camera for film and then went over to the chained Ponyboy who still had his eyes closed.

"Open your eyes Ponyboy. Darry and Soda wouldn't want a picture of you with your eyes closed now would they?" he asked but Ponyboy didn't comply. "Ponyboy," Lynch warned. That's when Lynch came over and smacked his check making Ponyboy grunt but still didn't open his eyes.

"Yes! I just love it when they don't listen," he said and went over to his display. He reached into his box under the table and pulled out a brass knuckles with short but sharp spikes on top. Johnny saw this and watched as Lynch made his way back over to Ponyboy after he picked up his camera.

"Pony! Open your eyes!" Johnny begged but he didn't listen. Lynch walked over to Ponyboy, set the camera down, and punched him hard in the check leaving three long streaks across his right cheek. Ponyboy shrieked but still didn't open his eyes. Lynch then held the spikes against Ponyboy's throat drawing a tiny bit of blood.

"Are you afraid of what I might do to you Ponyboy? Because we haven't even gotten started yet!" Lynch said chuckling with a wide grin. He then slowly ran the spike across Ponyboy's right cheek leaving behind a faint red streak behind. It wasn't until Lynch led the spike near Ponyboy's eye that he opened his eyes.

"AHH!" Ponyboy gasped in terror. Lynch quickly grabbed his camera and snapped a picture. The camera then spit out the photo which Lynch immediately took, and started waving the black image back and forth.

"That was excellent Ponyboy. Well done!" Lynch applauded and took the brass knuckle away from his eye. Thinking fast, Ponyboy kicked Lynch in the chest which made him lose his balance and fell a little before catching himself, and made Lynch drop the camera. Lynch then stood up and stepped on Ponyboy's chest with all his weight. "Now that was rude Ponyboy. Your parents should have taught you better manners," he said.

"Get off of him!" Johnny shouted.

"If you say so Johnny-boy," Lynch said taking his boot off of Ponyboy. He then went over to grab the whip and walked over to Johnny while unraveling it.

"No. Nononono," Johnny cried as Lynch got closer leaning as far up against the wall as he could. Lynch raised the whip and hit Johnny.

"AHHHHH!" Johnny screeched.

"YES! Oh how much I've missed this feeling!" Lynch said and hit Johnny again harder.

"S-STOP! PLEASE!" Johnny begged but Lynch went faster and laughing hysterically.

"Johnny!" Ponyboy shouted once again moving back and forth trying to escape his shackles.

"Figured you'd be used to this Johnny-boy but I guess not being so sheltered and useless," Lynch said continuing to whip him multiple times faster than the last.

Lynch didn't stop whipping until the only thing coming out of Johnny was a soft whimper.

"W-why are you doing this?" Ponyboy asked. Lynch looked at Ponyboy and gave a small chuckle.

"Because I can," Lynch said and went over to put the whip back on the hook.

"Are you gonna kill us?" Ponyboy whimpered.

"Of course not. It's much too early and I'm still having a great time. Very rarely do I let my guests live, but I just couldn't wait to get my hands on you both; the two heroes of Windrexville. That's why I ended my fun with Scott Gregory so soon. I saw how nervous Sodapop was getting with each day and I couldn't wait anymore," Lynch explained. "Now then Ponyboy, I believe it's time for a little flashback," he said pulling off the large wooden basket. He moved to Ponyboy and put the basket down right in front of him. After that, Lynch went back outside the barn and grabbed two heavy buckets hulling them over to the bucket and poured the water inside.

"No," Ponyboy mumbled shaking his head no back and forth.

"Yes! I bet Bob had a great time when he tried to drown you and I wanna see if I get that same feeling," Lynch said and grabbed Ponyboy's hair and thrust him underwater. Johnny could only watch in horror as his friend desperately tried to get out of Lynch's grasp. Water was spilling everywhere and Lynch was getting drenched with water but he still continued on.

" _You could use a bath greaser. And we got all night to do it," Bob said._

"NO!" Johnny screamed and fought to escape his chains just as Ponyboy had tried to do. He tugged and pulled but neither the chains nor the wall made any movement. Lynch grabbed Pony's hair again and pulled him up from the water as he started choking. Then Lynch pushed his head back underwater. He continued to struggle around with Lynch holding his neck down tight into the water.

All of a sudden, Ponyboy's struggles started to get slower and slower until finally, he stopped moving all together.

"You ain't gettin' away from me that easy Ponyboy Michael Curtis," he said.," Lynch said and thrust Ponyboy back out of the bucket. His eyes were closed, his face was pale and showed no signs of moving. Lynch threw him on the ground and started doing chest compressions. Meanwhile, Johnny's pupils grew large and his mouth wide open and couldn't bring himself to face away from the scene in front of him. Each compression Lynch did, caused some water to leak out of Ponyboy's mouth. After a solid minute of doing compressions, Ponyboy started coughing out the remaining water in his system and began breathing on his own again.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Meanwhile, Darry was driving back home after their long search had found nothing. The Sheppard gang and Randy had all since gone home, but the gang had all continued their search; even Steve who joined them after the station closed for the night.

" _It's getting late Curtis. Why don't you all go home and grab a bite? You've been at this all day," Agent Carlos told Darry._

" _No. The longer we wait, the less likely the chance we'll ever see them again alive," Darry said not missing Soda's flinch._

" _I know Curtis and I promise you, that Agent Helms and I are going to do everything in our power to find him, but we've done enough for one day. I'm going to report back to Agent Helms and then he and I can regroup from there. I have both of the boys' pictures and I can start passing them out and make missing posters. We'll call tomorrow because from what I've observed already, you all aren't going to follow the 'leave it to the professionals' advice are you?" he said._

" _The hell we are," Two-bit said._

Now Darry was pulling into the driveway after already having dropped off Steve and Two-Bit. Darry went inside the house and looked back to find Soda wasn't coming in. He went back outside to see Soda sitting in the back on the truck looking up at the almost completely set sun. Without saying a word, Darry climbed in the back with him, put his arms around him, and watched the sun finish setting. Soda rested his head against Darry's chest struggling to keep his red eyes open. It only took a minute for the golden sky that had just danced across the Tulsa sky to disappear completely.

"It was too quick. We have to do this again…with him," Soda mumbled.

"We will little buddy," Darry said and placed a soft kiss on his brother's head. "How about I get started on dinner and you jump in the shower? It'll feel really good after being in the sun most of the day," Darry said.

"I guess," Soda said.

 **Phew! That was hard, believe it or not. I guess it's just because it's kinda hard to write about someone getting tortured by a serial killer because** **most** **of us** _ **should**_ **know that that kind of act is unacceptable. It's weird that I have certain scenes that I know will be in the story somewhere, but it's just how to write about getting there is tricky. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this and see you next time.**

 **Review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


	16. Chapter 16

Darry watched as the clock by the bed turned into five am. His eyes were heavy but couldn't seem to close completely. Soda had finally fallen asleep after hours of just lying in bed looking around the room or out the window. Darry turned to look up at the ceiling before rubbing the corners of his eyes next to his nose. Then as slowly as he could, Darry inched his way out of the bed trying to avoid making any noise or shaking the bed that would wake up Soda. After re-tucking the covers over his brother, the eldest Curtis brother left the room and headed for the kitchen. Darry didn't even bother turning on the kitchen light but just leaned against the edge of the counter rubbing his hand all across his face and hair. Then he turned around resting his red fists on the counter trying to hide his whimpers and sighs. After quickly rubbing his face again, Darry went and turned the lights on, and to the cabinets and pulled out a mug and large pan. He put the pan on the stove and turned the heat on before making himself a pot of coffee.

Meanwhile, Soda walked into the kitchen with his eyes barely staying open as he hobbled towards the table.

"What are you doing up?" Darry asked.

"Could ask you the same thing Darry," Soda said and Darry just gave him a look. "Couldn't go back to sleep," he admitted rubbing his eyes.

"Why don't you go try again? You look like you're gonna fall off the chair," Darry said.

"No point. Plus I really don't wanna see….never mind," Soda said turning away, but Darry just continued to look at him. Soda looked back at him and rolled his eyes when Darry still gave him 'the look.' "Relax, I'm fine."

"Sure you are little buddy," Darry said and started pulling out some eggs and bacon from the fridge.

"You'll let me know if you'll find anything today right?" Soda asked. Darry's eyebrows rose before turning back to Soda.

"Hold up, you're not working today are you?" Darry asked and Soda nodded. "Your boss is seriously making go in today?!"

"Well…not exactly, but I'm going in anyway," Soda admitted.

"You're kidding me, right? How can you be expected to do your job with everything that's going on? It's too soon for you," Darry said.

"Yeah, well guess what? I'm doing perfectly fine, so how about you quit worrying about me so much and focus on finding Pony and Johnny," Soda snapped.

"You better watch it, kid," Darry warned.

"Or what? You gonna hit me too?!" Soda said and Darry slammed the spatula on the table and spun around. There he saw Soda standing up with his face pale and huge eyes. "Darry I….I'm sorry. That's not what I-"

"Relax its fine. But you need to calm down," Darry said. Soda nodded and closed his eyes taking in a few deep breaths. He took in one last one before opening his eyes again. He looked back up at Darry full of guilt.

"I'm sorry Darry."

"I told you, it's fine," Darry said and turned back around to continue cooking breakfast. Soda meanwhile sat back down and held his head up using both his hands. The rest of the time was spent in silence save for the sound of grease sizzling on the bacon and eggs cooking. Darry occasionally looked back at Soda still sitting at the table.

When the food was almost done, Soda looked outside the back door to see the world starting to get brighter. Quickly, he got out of the chair and walked through the living room and out the front door taking note not to slam the door. The sky was mostly clear; save for a few big, puffy, colorful clouds scattered around. The shinnying stars in the sky started to go dim along with the bright half-moon. The birds annoyingly chirped at each other and the crickets continued to play their tune greeting the new day. Then he saw it, the faintest tint of yellow peeked up out of the hills behind some houses. Soda sat on the steps and leaned his head against one of the railing boards for the steps. He watched for what seemed like only a minute as the faded tint of yellow grew brighter and brighter until the light started to pierce his eyes. Soda just kept blinking his eyes ignoring his automatic reaction to put his hand on top of his forehead to shield the light. He just stood there not moving and soaking in the new day; another day without his brother.

"Sodapop! Get in here before the rest of your food gets cold!" he heard Darry shout from inside.

"Huh? Oh, coming!" Soda said shaking his head bringing him back to reality. He got up and gave the sky one last glance before going back in. After grabbing a plate and piling it with food, Soda sat back down.

"He was right. Sunrises _are_ prettier. I should have watched them with him more," Soda mumbled.

"We'll have plenty of time for that when we find him," Darry said.

"If we find him," Soda moaned.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and the two froze. They exchanged glances and Darry hesitantly got up from the table to answer the door. There stood Agent Carlos in full his full FBI suit with his camera attached to a strap around his neck.

"Did you find anything?!" Darry demanded.

"Sort of, but you need to come to the police station right away. The newspaper got _something_ this morning," Carlos whispered.

"What kind of _something_?" Soda asked coming into the living room with his arms crossed. Darry then stood in Soda's way trying to block out Carlos at the door.

"Soda, go back-"

"Oh don't you try and pull that bullcrap on _me_ Darry!" the middle Curtis yelped flinching away when Darry tried to touch him. "What are you trying to hide from me?!"

"You're not getting involved in this Sodapop!" Darry growled.

"Not get involved?! My little brother's been kidnapped and you want me to sit back and not get involved?!" Soda shouted.

"He's my little brother too kid, and so are you!" Darry yelled.

"If you two are done bickering, then maybe we can get to the station sometime today. Unless you want to continue to let your brother and friend be held captive by a known killer," Carlos said. "Oh and…have either of you checked your mail recently?" Carlos asked.

"Um….why?" Soda asked taking a step to the right so he could see Carlos a little better.

"Well…" Carlos said but just looked at Darry squeezing his lips together. "Because we only have half of a clue, and we need the other half in order to solve it." Soda's eyes went wide mouth was slightly opened as he slowly looked outside to where the mailbox was.

"He sends letters?!" Soda shrieked. Then he looked at Darry who was glaring at Carlos. "Wait, you knew?!"

"Gentlemen, please! We can have this discussion later but nows not the time. I'm sorry Darrel but Lynch has a way of watching our every move. Why else do you think he's never been caught yet? He's kidnapped hundreds of teens before and…..let's just say gets very angry if we don't do what he asks; more specifically on those he has captive," Carlos explained. Soda's face relaxed as he looked back up at Darry who had since grown pale.

"Okay Pepsi," Darry muttered.

 **Break*Break*Break**

Darry and Soda were driven up to Tulsa's police station into one of the back investigation rooms. They walked into what looked like a crime lab with a long table in the middle with various agents sitting by or talking to Agent Helms.

"Ah, there you boys are," Helms said. "You know, normally we don't like to involve the family in these kinds of investigations, but this particular bast*** gives us no choice but to do so. You already know that Lynch does what he does just for his own amusement, but what you probably didn't know is he like to turn our side into a game. You brought the letter right?"

"Have it right here sir," Carlos said holding it up.

"Good. Curtis, are you sure you want your brother in here for this?"

"To be honest, no; but I also want to find Pony and Johnny alive more than trying to keep what we find hidden," Darry said.

"I'll be fine," Soda said grabbing Darry's hand. Darry looked back at Soda and squeezed his hand. Then Darry turned back to the agents and gave Agent Helms a slight nod.

"Alright gentlemen," Helms said and all the agents. Another agent carefully set another letter down on the table like he was carrying a newborn infant. This letter, however, had already been opened by someone. Helms took the letter out of the envelope and showed the Curtis brothers what was written on the front of the folded letter.

 _Feeling stuck? The brothers might have better luck._

Darry and Soda looked at each other as Helms opened up the letter and placed it in the middle of the table. This letter had nothing on it except for random numbers going across the paper.

"What the hell is that?" Soda asked.

"It's called a cipher. It's a coded message that can't be cracked unless we have some sort of keyword or phrase. That's where _your_ letter comes in," Helms said and took the letter addressed to Darry and Soda opening it with his letter opener. He took out the letter, opened it, read it silently, and placed it in the center of the table. This letter only had a single sentence written in the middle of the page.

 _A family of seven, down by two._

The room grew quiet as they all stared at the letter.

"Remember, he's playing a big game with you," Helms reminded when he saw terror all over Darry and Soda's face.

"S-so what's with the coded message?" Darry asked.

" _Your_ letter is the key phase in this instance for the cipher. But the hard part is figuring out how the keyword relates to it," Helms explained.

"Do we want to start trying out some ideas to crack it sir?" one of the agents asked.

"It's all we have to go on for right now, but just to rule out the obvious options, Montgomery and Rives, you two work on classic ABC and ZYX. The rest of us will share ideas and try out our theories. Remember, keep it in relation to the key phrase and don't leave out anything," Helms said handing the two agents a card that matched a letter to how far away it was away from zero. (A=1, B=2, etc.)

"Family of seven, down by two; what if we start the alphabet at five? Like letter E is one, F is two, G is three, and so on," another agent suggested.

"Take it!" Helms said and the agent took a piece of paper, a pencil, and a copy of the letter.

"I'll do the other side of the alphabet. No offense, but I've heard a few people say that the area where you all live isn't really that great. Like growing up on the 'wrong side of the tracks,'" another suggested.

"Good one Larkson," Carlos admitted.

"Our area is fine, but do what you have to," Darry said rolling his eyes.

"What do you think Darry?" Soda asked.

"Family of seven, down by two," Darry mumbled cupping his chin with his right hand while crossing his left arm over his body. "Wait, that would be all of us right? The whole gang I mean," Darry said.

"Yeah, and the 'down by two' part definitely represents Johnny and Pony," Soda commented.

"Classic ABC and ZYX is a no go," the Agent called Rives said.

"That's what I thought," Helms said and the agents continued to discuss and try to come up with more ideas ignoring Darry and Soda talking.

"I did a few of the 'starting at five' theory and it's not making much sense," Agent Larkson said.

"Damn! That one would have fit. Group of seven, is down by two!" Soda commented.

"Curtis, does just 'family of seven' mean anything to you? The down by two-part is obviously Ponyboy and Jonathan but what does seven mean?" Helms asked.

"The seven might represent our gang that we hang around all the time. Wait a minute, what if it's our order by age," Darry suggested.

"But Dally grew up in New York. We've known Steve and Two-bit since Kindergarten," Soda said.

"Doesn't matter. Dally still hangs out with us, and he even saved Pony and Johnny from the fire. He risked his life for them; sounds like family to me," Darry said.

"Okay," Soda said and Darry grabbed a piece of paper and pencil.

"You got something you'd like to share with us, Curtis?" Helms asked.

"Hang on a minute," Soda said and turned back to Darry who started to write the names down. "So you're the oldest, then it's Two-bit, Dally and Steve…"

"Then you, Johnny, and Pony," Darry said finishing off Soda's sentence and finished writing them down.

"Try this," Darry said to Helms handing over the piece of paper. "That's our group in order."

"But wait, if we're down by two then starting the alphabet at five should have worked," Soda commented.

"Yes, but if we're going to put this group into age, then Ponyboy and Jonathan are the sixth and seventh members of your gang," Helms said. "So the alphabet numbers should start at letters F or G. Montgomery, you try out starting at letter F."

"I'll give letter G a shot," Carlos said grabbing a piece of paper. Then after a few minutes of Carlos trying it out, and trying out new options, Carlos held up his paper. "This is it," he said and handed the letter to Helms.

"Nice job Curtis. You just saved us hours of trial and error," Helms admitted.

"What does it say?" Darry asked and Helms looked down at it while Carlos got back up to get his camera.

 _Dear Editor,_

 _I apologize for ending our last game early, but I couldn't wait any longer to start a new one. Please give Agent Helms my regards as we start our game all over again. My newest victims are having a great time here, though I honestly don't know how long this game will last as Ponyboy already seems like giving up. We shall see, but I have already enjoyed both boys' company already as we started with my belt, and then had a reenactment of that faithful day down in the park. But I'm getting ahead of myself. There will be more to come and always remember that every move you do, I'll be watching._

 _H.L_

 **That ending I was stuck on for days. But I'm okay with it now. Plenty more is still to come so stay tune. I also decided to leave the numbered coded message out to save me some time. If you all really want to see the numbered coded message, just let me know.**

 **Don't forget to review**

 **LaurenHardy13**


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